Silicon photonics athermal Mach-Zehnder interferometer with wide thermal and spectral operating range

In the context of 3D-integrated circuit (3DIC) integration of photonic and electronic components on vertical stacks covering different domains (digital, analog, RF, optical and MEMS), the control and minimization of adverse thermal effects on the behavior of the different parts of the microsystem is a major concern. Solutions based on passive athermal design are good candidates for enabling operation of optical components over electronic ICs with variable temporal and spatial thermal load while at the same time, minimizing energy loss on thermal biasing resistive loads. In this work, an improved athermal design method and the corresponding validating fabricated prototype are presented with the aim of extending the spectral athermal operating range of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) over a wide thermal range with minimal temperature sensitivity. The proposed approach is demonstrated with a CMOS compatible silicon-on-insulator process flow fabrication run. The fabricated MZIs have a temperature sensitivity of around 20 pm/K over a spectral range larger than 60 nm for operating temperatures in the range of 20°C to 60°C. These devices are suitable for future optical and electronic 3D IC integration.