Tuning SOI filters with Liquid Crystals

The silicon-on-insulator (SOI) material system is today widely recognized as one of the most important platforms for the development of photonic components. This is mainly due to the fact that the mass fabrication techniques of the CMOS technology can be used for the fabrication of these SOI components. However, using silicon for photonic components has significant downsides. For example, it is impossible to generate light efficiently in silicon because of the indirect band structure. Additionally, broad wavelength tuning is difficult to achieve in SOI components. These downsides can be overcome by integrating other materials in the SOI system. In recent years, III/V semiconductor materials have been integrated with SOI, allowing for light amplification, detection and even laser action in silicon components [1]. In this work, we investigate the possibility of using liquid crystal (LC) as a cladding material for SOI components. The huge electrooptic effect of LCs could lead to widely electrically tunable SOI components.