Fabrication of Computer-Generated Nanophotonic Devices

Lemli, David;Butz, Marco;Schuck, Carsten

Abstract

The increasingly sophisticated functionalities and performance requirements of photonic integrated circuit components produced by modern inverse design algorithms are practically difficult to achieve due to limitations of state-of-the-art nanofabrication processes. The main challenge consists in producing irregular computer-generated structures with 10s of nanometer resolution and high aspect ratios. In this work, we address this challenge with a holistic approach that combines electron-beam lithography and focused-ion-beam milling techniques with biasing deep-learning-based design algorithms to account for arbitrary fabrication constraints while minimizing the impact on individual device performance. We employ our methods for fabricating a wide range of pixel-discrete inversely designed nanophotonic structures and compare the measured performances with simulation based predictions. Our findings pave the way for fast and exact prototyping of novel and challenging nanophotonic devices for applications in information and communication technology, including photonic quantum technology.