Alfredo Gonzalez-Fernandez

Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Óptica y Electrónica (INAOE) | INAOE · Electronics Coordination

Electrophotonic (EPh) circuits are novel systems where photons and electrons can be controlled simultaneously in the same integrated circuit, attaining the development of innovative sensors for different applications. In this work, we present a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS)-compatible EPh circuit for biotin sensing, in which a sili...

Mono and multilayer silicon rich oxide light-emitting capacitors (SRO-LEC) were fabricated using both polished and textured Si substrates. The textured substrate surface was treated by metal-assisted chemical etching (MACE) for 10 s and 20 s forming nanoneedles. Monolayer devices fabricated using textured substrates required lower energy to emit li...

This work presents a novel integrable silicon photodetector which can only be conceived as part of a monolithic electrophotonic basic structure formed of a silicon light emitter, waveguide and light detector. That is, it cannot operate as a single electronic or photonic device. The detector presents current gain, and photons reach the depletion reg...

The historical bottleneck for truly high scale integrated photonics is the light emitter. The lack of monolithically integrable light sources increases costs and reduces scalability. Quantum phenomena found in embedded Si particles in the nanometer scale is a way of overcoming the limitations for bulk Si to emit light. Integrable light sources base...

This work proposes and demonstrates the concept of a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS)-compatible electrophotonic monolithic refractive index sensor in which a Si-based light source is directly integrated. The device consists of an embedded light emitter, a waveguide, a sensing area to place an analyte, and a photodetector. The behavio...

In this paper, the optical response of MOS-like transistors with a Si3N4 integrated waveguide as the gate dielectric, and different substrate dopant concentrations is studied. Simulation results show the possibility to integrate a MIS transistor as a detector in an electrophotonic circuit with a compatible bulk CMOS fabrication process and obtainin...

In this paper, we present structural and luminescence studies of silicon-rich silicon oxide (SRO) and SRO-Si 3 N 4 bi-layers for integration in emitter-waveguide pairs that can be used for photonic lab-on-a-chip sensing applications. The results from bi and mono layers are also compared. Two clearly separated emission bands are respectively attribu...

The need for miniaturized, fully integrated semiconductor lasers has stimulated significant research efforts into realizing unconventional configurations that can meet the performance requirements of a large spectrum of applications, ranging from communication systems to sensing. We demonstrate a hybrid, silicon photonics-compatible photonic crysta...

We present an analysis of the relation between atomic and luminescent characteristics of a variety of Si-enriched Silicon Oxide films obtained by different techniques and various Si contents. Detailed studies of the Si 2p core level energy region and its components were carried out, as well as of Photoluminescence and its components. The results fr...

The photoluminescence characteristics of films consisting of Si nanocrystals either coated with or embedded into Spin on Glass (SOG) were studied. Si nanocrystals showing red or blue luminescence when suspended in alcohol solution were obtained from porous silicon films. These were then either deposited in Si substrates and coated with SOG, or mixe...

We report a compact uncooled external-cavity mWatt-class laser architecture with a tunable Si Photonic Crystal resonant reflector, suitable for direct Frequency Modulation. Wavelength shifts of the order of GHz for linewidths <10 MHz and SMSRs up to 46 dB were observed.

Energy efficient Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) is the key to satisfying the future bandwidth requirements of datacentres. As the silicon photonics platform is regarded the only technology able to meet the required power and cost efficiency levels, the development of silicon photonics compatible narrow linewidth lasers is now crucial. We di...

We report the experimental demonstration of an alternative design of external-cavity hybrid lasers consisting of a III-V Semiconductor Optical Amplifier with fiber reflector and a Photonic Crystal (PhC) based resonant reflector on SOI. The Silicon reflector comprises a polymer (SU8) bus waveguide vertically coupled to a PhC cavity and provides a wa...

This work presents the design, fabrication, and characterization of a monolithic and complementary-metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS)-based integrated optical system, including the light emitter working in the visible range, waveguide, and photodetector. The presented system aims to be applied for the development of optochemical sensors. The work pre...

A photonic lab on a chip (PhLOC), comprising a solid-state light emitter (SSLE) aligned with a biofunctionalized optofluidic multiple internal reflection (MIR) system, is presented. The SSLE is obtained by filling a microfluidic structure with a phenyltrimethoxysilane (PhTMOS) aqueous sol solution containing a fluorophore organic dye. After curing,...

Silicon rich oxide (SRO) is a silicon compatible material that could solve the light emission limitation inherent to bulk silicon. However, not many applications are yet reported, since still much research has to be done. In this paper, SRO superficial films were obtained by low pressure chemical vapor deposition. Structural and optical characteriz...

In this work we show the design of one-dimensional nanophotonic structures (photonic crystal gratings) for enhancement of extraction of light with specific wavelengths in light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The LEDs are made of silicon-rich oxide embedding silicon nanolayers with emission in the visible spectrum. The LED structure consists of a poly-sili...

We analyze the influence of the fabrication technique and the silicon excess on the power efficiency and evolution with time of the electroluminescence of silicon rich silicon oxide in metal—oxide—semiconductor like light emitting capacitors under direct current. The silicon rich silicon oxide layers have been fabricated using two different techniq...

Abstract— Fully combined metal-oxide-semiconductor compat- ible light-emitting devices based on nano bi-layer structures are fabricated. The active layers are composed of silicon nitride on top of a silicon-enriched silicon dioxide film with different Si concentrations. Electro and photo luminescence spectra of the devices and the active materials...

In this paper we present a technique that can be used to study the effect of absorption and coherent interference in the luminescence of multilayer structures. We apply the technique to the measured photoluminescence and electroluminescence spectra of MIS capacitors where the insulator is composed of a silicon rich oxide (SRO)/silicon rich nitride...

Silicon enriched silicon oxide and silicon nitride bi-layered nanostructures were fabricated and studied. The silicon enriched silicon oxide films were obtained by Ion Implantation of Silicon into silicon oxide layers obtained by thermal oxidation and PECVD techniques. Structural characteristics by XPS, as well as photolu- minescence were studied i...

This work presents the fabrication and photo-luminescence characterization of bi layer structures of silicon enriched silicon nitride and silicon dioxide fabricated by CMOS compatible techniques. The silicon excess was introduced by silicon implantation, and two thickness of the silicon dioxide layer were studied. Two main regions of PL were identi...

Studies of photo-luminescence (PL) and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) were performed to silicon-rich silicon dioxide films (SRO) fabricated by implantation of Si ions on SiO2 deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). Samples presented PL spectra formed by the contribution of two bands, respectively related to defects a...

Silicon Rich Oxide (SRO) has been considered as a material to overcome the drawbacks of silicon to achieve optical functions. Various techniques can be used to produce it, including Low-Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition (LPCVD). In this paper, a brief description of the studies carried out and discussions of the results obtained on electro-, catho...

Se ha estudiado el comportamiento eléctrico (capacitancia–voltaje y corriente–voltaje) de estructuras tipo MOS con óxido de silicio enriquecido en silicio (SRO) como material dieléctrico. La capa activa de SRO ha sido obtenida por tres técnicas compatibles CMOS diferentes, como son la deposición química de vapor a baja presión (LPCVD), la deposició...

This work presents electrical and electro-optical studies performed on light-emitting capacitors with silicon-rich silicon oxide fabricated by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition and by the implantation of Si ions in thermally grown SiO 2 . The influence of the fabrication technique and silicon content on electrical, electro-optical, and emis...

This work presents electrical and electro-optical studies performed on light-emitting capacitors with silicon-rich silicon oxide fabricated by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition and by the implantation of Si ions in thermally grown SiO2. The influence of the fabrication technique and silicon content on electrical, electro-optical, and emissi...

Light emitting capacitors (LECs) were fabricated using silicon rich oxide (SRO) films as active layer. Blue and red electroluminescence (EL) was observed by changing the silicon nanoparticle (Si-np) size from 1.5 to 2.7 nm embedded in the silica matrix. EL is ascribed to the charge injection into the Si-nps embedded in the SRO films through a balan...

The electrical behavior (capacitance–voltage and current–voltage) of MOS-like structures with silicon rich silicon oxide (SRO) as the dielectric material has been studied. The SRO active layer has been obtained by three different CMOS compatible techniques, namely low pressure chem- ical vapor deposition (LPCVD), plasma enhanced chemical vapor depo...

Light emitting capacitors (LECs) based on silicon-rich oxide (SRO) were fabricated and its electroluminescent (EL) characteristics studied. Thin SRO films with R0 = 30 were deposited by low pressure chemical vapor deposition and submitted to thermal treatment at 1100 °C for 180 min. Photoluminescence was observed in the SRO films and intense visibl...

Electroluminescent properties of thin silicon-rich oxide (SRO) films deposited by low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) were studied. The gas flow ratio Ro = N2O/SiH4 was changed to obtain different silicon concentrations within the SRO films. After deposition, SRO films were thermally annealed at 1100ºC for 3h in N2 atmosphere in order to...

Silicon Rich Oxide (SRO) is a multiphase material composed by SiO 2, Si and SiOx.(0<X<2) SRO characteristics include the photo and cathode emission of visible light. Lastly, big efforts have been devoted to obtain a controllable emission using electroluminescence, but keeping its compatibility with silicon IC's fabrication technology. In this paper...