Ultrahigh-Q photonic crystal nanocavities fabricated by CMOS process technologies

We fabricated photonic crystal high-quality factor (Q) nanocavities on a 300-mm-wide silicon-on-insulator wafer by using argon fluoride immersion photolithography. The heterostructure nanocavities showed an average experimental Q value of 1.5 million for 12 measured samples. The highest Q value was 2.3 million, which represents a record for a nanocavity fabricated by complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS)-compatible machinery. We also demonstrated an eight-channel drop filter with 4 nm spacing consisting of arrayed nanocavities with three missing air holes. The standard deviation in the drop wavelength was less than 1 nm. These results will accelerate ultrahigh-Q nanocavity research in various areas.