Optical Probe for Nondestructive Wafer-Scale Characterization of Photonic Elements

Michels, Thomas; Aksyuk, Vladimir A.

doi:10.1109/lpt.2017.2660439

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…One of the most prominent examples is scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM), [13,14] which is used to measure optical properties with sub-wavelength resolution, e.g., in life sciences [15,16] and material research, [17][18][19] or for characterization of integrated optical devices. [20,21] SNOM crucially relies on coupling of light to and from a metal nanoscale probe tip and hence requires additional macroscopic optical elements such as microscope objectives or mirrors that need to be precisely aligned. Alternatively, the probe can be realized as metal-coated tip of a tapered optical fiber with a nanoscale aperture at the apex.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In many applications, it is further desirable to complement SPM by additional imaging modes. One of the most prominent examples is scanning near‐field optical microscopy (SNOM), which is used to measure optical properties with sub‐wavelength resolution, e.g., in life sciences and material research, or for characterization of integrated optical devices . SNOM crucially relies on coupling of light to and from a metal nanoscale probe tip and hence requires additional macroscopic optical elements such as microscope objectives or mirrors that need to be precisely aligned.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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3D‐Printed Scanning‐Probe Microscopes with Integrated Optical Actuation and Read‐Out

Dietrich

Göring

Trappen

et al. 2019

Small

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realized as a sharp tip with nanometersize apex attached to a micrometer-scale cantilever. In current SPM systems, tip and cantilever are usually structured in a dedicated microfabrication process before being manually mounted and aligned to a macroscopic optomechanical system for piezoelectric actuation and optical detection of sub-nanometer movements. This concept leads to rather bulky implementations and requires laborious operation, given that the tip is a wear part that has to be regularly exchanged and re-aligned to the read-out system. In addition, tip-cantilever geo metries are currently restricted by the underlying fabrication techniques, relying on 2D lithographic patterning and subsequent anisotropic etching. These techniques usually result in pyramidal tips with rather low aspect ratios, and the dimensions of the cantilever are often subject to fabrication tolerances that lead to variations of the resonance frequency of 30% or more. [10] Moreover, current SPM systems are often limited in scanning speed, which inhibits high-throughput characterization of large sample areas. This may be overcome by arrays of SPM cantilevers for parallel scanning, [11,12] but the scalability and integration density of current SPM schemes is limited by the fact that each cantilever must still be individually addressed by a dedicated actuator and sensor element of macroscopic dimension. Chiplevel integration of individually addressable cantilevers has been Scanning-probe microscopy (SPM) is the method of choice for high-resolution imaging of surfaces in science and industry. However, SPM systems are still considered as rather complex and costly scientific instruments, realized by delicate combinations of microscopic cantilevers, nanoscopic tips, and macroscopic read-out units that require high-precision alignment prior to use. This study introduces a concept of ultra-compact SPM engines that combine cantilevers, tips, and a wide variety of actuator and read-out elements into one single monolithic structure. The devices are fabricated by multiphoton laser lithography as it is a particularly flexible and accurate additive nanofabrication technique. The resulting SPM engines are operated by optical actuation and read-out without manual alignment of individual components. The viability of the concept is demonstrated in a series of experiments that range from atomic-force microscopy engines offering atomic step height resolution, their operation in fluids, and to 3D printed scanning near-field optical microscopy. The presented approach is amenable to wafer-scale mass fabrication of SPM arrays and capable to unlock a wide range of novel applications that are inaccessible by current approaches to build SPMs.The ORCID identification number(s) for the author(s) of this article can be found under https://doi.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

3D‐Printed Scanning‐Probe Microscopes with Integrated Optical Actuation and Read‐Out

Dietrich

Göring

Trappen

et al. 2019

Small

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…PIC designers are therefore constrained by the trade-off between minimizing optical loss and ensuring adequate accessibility to testing locations. To solve this problem, various direct probing methods or erasable testing structures have been implemented. − Direct probing methods rely on evanescent or diffractive excitation of light by placing optical probes in close proximity to the waveguide surfaces. , To apply these methods, openings must be etched into the waveguide claddings to expose the waveguide core at testing sites. This technique induces excess scattering loss and might not be practical for certain PIC designs and/or packaging configurations.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Transient Tap Couplers for Wafer-Level Photonic Testing Based on Optical Phase Change Materials

Zhang

Rı́os

et al. 2021

ACS Photonics

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Wafer-level testing is crucial for process monitoring, post-fabrication trimming, and understanding system dynamics in photonic integrated circuits (PICs). Waveguide tap couplers are usually used to provide testing access to the PIC components. These tap couplers however incur permanent parasitic losses, imposing a trade-off between PIC performance and testing demands. Here we demonstrate a transient tap coupler design based on optical phase change materials (O-PCMs). In their asfabricated "on" state, the couplers enable broadband interrogation of PICs at the wafer level. Upon completion of testing, the tap couplers can be turned "off" with minimal residual loss (0.01 dB) via a simple low-temperature (280 °C) wafer-scale annealing process. We further successfully demonstrated transient couplers in both Si and SiN photonics platforms. The platform-agnostic transient coupler concept uniquely combines compact footprint, broadband operation, exceptionally low residual losses, and low thermal budget commensurate with post-fabrication treatment, thereby offering a facile solution to wafer-level photonic testing without compromising the final PIC performance.

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Progress and comparison in nondestructive detection, imaging and recognition technology for defects of wafers, chips and solder joints

Fang,

An,

Chen

et al. 2023

Nondestructive Testing and Evaluation

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Optical Probe for Nondestructive Wafer-Scale Characterization of Photonic Elements

Cited by 4 publications

References 11 publications

3D‐Printed Scanning‐Probe Microscopes with Integrated Optical Actuation and Read‐Out

3D‐Printed Scanning‐Probe Microscopes with Integrated Optical Actuation and Read‐Out

Transient Tap Couplers for Wafer-Level Photonic Testing Based on Optical Phase Change Materials

Progress and comparison in nondestructive detection, imaging and recognition technology for defects of wafers, chips and solder joints

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