Fabrication of photonic integrated circuits in silicon nitride using substrate conformal imprint lithography

•New process approach for fabrication of photonic integrated circuit by substrate conform imprint lithography is presented•The approach allows cost-effective high resolution pattern definition for Si3N4 PIC as alternative to optical lithography•High quality wave-guides / grating couplers were fabricated using the SCIL process

The feasibility of nanoimprint lithography as an alternative strategy for the pattern definition of Si3N4 based PIC (photonic integrated circuit) is demonstrated in this study. The PICs were patterned by the substrate conformal imprint lithography (SCIL), a variation of UV nanoimprint lithography. The optical quality of the patterned PICs was determined by measuring the optical transmission losses of the fabricated PICs. The quality was then compared with the PICs patterned by an optical stepper. The analysis shows that the optical quality of the patterns fabricated by the SCIL process is similar to the patterns defined by an optical stepper. Our study demonstrates clearly that the SCIL is an alternative to established lithographic approaches in regards to material or pattern resolution.

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