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MIT Develops Scalable Fabrication for Flexible, Transparent Silicon Photonics Chips

MIT scientists have created a scalable fabrication process for silicon photonics chips that are both flexible and transparent, a breakthrough that could enable new applications like body-conforming health monitors and transparent augmented-reality displays.

Traditional silicon photonics chips, which use light for data transmission, are typically rigid and opaque. While previous research has yielded flexible or transparent chips, these methods were not scalable for mass production.

The new process, developed in collaboration with NY Creates, utilizes standard semiconductor manufacturing techniques on large wafers. Researchers successfully tested the chips by repeatedly bending them around small cylinders without performance loss and found minimal optical distortion.

Jelena Notaros, a senior author on the paper, stated that this wafer-scale process opens up novel applications previously impossible with silicon photonics and aims to make the platform accessible to the wider research community.

The fabrication involves depositing optical waveguides onto a rigid silicon substrate, bonding a temporary wafer, removing the original silicon to leave ultrathin layers, and then adhering a transparent polyester film. This results in a flexible, transparent wafer only a few microns thick.

A key challenge was removing material from large wafers while managing stress to prevent damage. The team used low-temperature processes and a combination of industrial thinning and selective chemical etching to achieve the desired thinness without compromising the delicate layers.

Performance tests confirmed the chips' waveguiding properties and exceptional flexibility, with no degradation even when bent around a screw-sized cylinder. Transparency tests showed only minimal haze, suggesting suitability for applications like curved augmented-reality displays for pilots or other demanding environments.

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