NLM Photonics and LIGENTEC have demonstrated what they describe as the first silicon nitride organic hybrid (NOH) modulators fabricated on a commercial photonics platform.
Developed in collaboration with Spark Photonics, the proof-of-concept devices combine LIGENTEC's silicon nitride (SiN) platform with NLM's organic electro-optic (OEO) materials. The approach is intended to enable active devices on SiN, which is otherwise a passive photonic platform.
SiN offers low propagation losses and a broad transparency window extending into the visible spectrum, making it attractive for applications including quantum photonics and sensing. However, active components such as modulators, lasers and detectors require integration with other materials.
For the demonstration, NLM developed processes for SiN/OEO integration, including metallisation, OEO deposition and poling, while LIGENTEC provided the fabrication platform and Spark Photonics handled the device layout.
The companies said the OEO material and an additional metal layer can be applied to SiN as back-end-of-line processes, potentially allowing the technology to be integrated into established SiN manufacturing flows.
The partners will now focus on optimising the NOH designs to develop more compact and efficient active SiN devices for applications including quantum and sensing technologies.
