Multi-mode Planar Waveguide Fabricated by a (110) Silicon Hard Master

We fabricated (110) silicon hard master by using anisotropic wet etching for embossing. The etching chemical for the silicon wafer was a TMAH $25\%$ solution. The anisotropic wet etching produces a smooth sidewall surface and the surface roughness of the fabricated master is about 3 nm. After spin coating an organic-inorganic sol-gel hybrid material on a silicon substrate, we employed hot embossing technique operated at a low pressure and temperature to form patterns on the silicon substrate by using the fabricated master. We successfully fabricated the multi-mode planar optical waveguides showing low propagation loss of 0.4 dB/cm. The surface roughness of embossed patterns was uniform for more than 10 times of the embossing processes with a single hydrophobic surface treatment of the silicon hard master.