# US 11,906,661 B2 · Silicon photonics device for LIDAR sensor and method for fabrication

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- Number: US 11,906,661 B2
- Document ID: US11906661B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 17/853,674
- Filed: 2022-06-29
- Published: 2023-05-25
- Granted: 2024-02-20
- Earliest claimed: 2021-11-24
- Assignees: Aurora Operations, Inc.
- Applicants: Aurora Operations, Inc.
- Inventors: Sen Lin; Andrew Steil Michaels
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11906661B2

## CPC

- G01S 7/4813: {Housing arrangements}
- G01S 7/4816: {of receivers alone}
- G01S 17/931: of land vehicles
- H10F 30/222: the potential barrier being a PN heterojunction
- H10F 77/122: comprising only Group IV materials
- H10F 77/413: {directly associated or integrated with the devices, e.g. back reflectors (directly associated or integrated with photovoltaic cells H10F77/42)}
- G01S 17/34: using transmission of continuous, frequency-modulated waves while heterodyning the received signal, or a signal derived therefrom, with a locally-generated signal related to the contemporaneously transmitted signal
- G01S: RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES
- H10F: INORGANIC SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES SENSITIVE TO INFRARED RADIATION, LIGHT, ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION OF SHORTER WAVELENGTH OR CORPUSCULAR RADIATION

## Abstract

A structure of a silicon photonics device for LIDAR includes a first insulating structure and a second insulating structure disposed above one or more etched silicon structures overlying a substrate member. A metal layer is disposed above the first insulating structure without a prior deposition of a diffusion barrier and adhesion layer. A thin insulating structure is disposed above the second insulating structure. A first configuration of the metal layer, the first insulating structure and the one or more etched silicon structures forms a free-space coupler. A second configuration of the thin insulating structure above the second insulating structure forms an edge coupler.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A silicon photonics device for a LIDAR sensor of a vehicle, comprising:
a substrate member;
a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) layer formed on the substrate member; and
a first antenna of the LIDAR sensor formed on the substrate member, the first antenna including:
a first grating structure in the SOI layer coupled to the substrate member;
a first dielectric structure coupled to the first grating structure; and
a first metal layer coupled to the first dielectric structure.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The silicon photonics device of claim 1, further comprising:
an edge coupler formed on the substrate member, the edge coupler including:
a second dielectric structure coupled to the substrate member; and
a third dielectric structure coupled to the second dielectric structure.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The silicon photonics device of claim 1, further comprising:
a second antenna of the LIDAR sensor formed on the substrate member, the second antenna including:
a second grating structure in the SOI layer coupled to the substrate member; and
the first metal layer coupled to the second grating structure.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The silicon photonics device of claim 3, further comprising:
a photodiode formed on the substrate member and coupled to the second antenna.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The silicon photonics device of claim 1, wherein the first antenna further includes:
a diffusion barrier and adhesion layer on top of the first metal layer, the diffusion barrier and adhesion layer and the first metal layer forming a reflective minor structure.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The silicon photonics device of claim 1, wherein the first antenna is a one-dimensional grating coupler.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The silicon photonics device of claim 1, wherein the first antenna further includes an intermediate oxide layer between the first grating structure and the first dielectric structure and between the first dielectric structure and the first metal layer.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The silicon photonics device of claim 1, wherein the first metal layer is a Metal 0 (MT0) layer.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The silicon photonics device of claim 1, wherein the first metal layer is one from a group of aluminum, gold, silver, and copper.

### Claim 10 (depends on 2)

The silicon photonics device of claim 2, wherein the first dielectric structure and the second dielectric structure are co-planar.

### Claim 11 (depends on 2)

The silicon photonics device of claim 2, wherein the first dielectric structure, the second dielectric structure, and the third dielectric structure are formed using one from a group of silicon nitride and silicon.

### Claim 12 (depends on 5)

The silicon photonics device of claim 5, wherein the diffusion barrier and adhesion layer is one from a group of tantalum nitride, indium oxide, copper silicide, tungsten nitride, and titanium nitride.

### Claim 13 (depends on 1)

The silicon photonics device of claim 1, wherein a first distance between a bottom of the first dielectric structure and a top of the first grating structure is in a range between 100 nanometers and 500 nanometers, a second distance between a bottom of the first metal layer and the top of the first grating structure is in a range between 800 nanometers and 1200 nanometers, and a third distance between a top of the first dielectric structure and the bottom of the first metal layer is in a range between 500 nanometers and 1600 nanometers.

### Claim 14 (depends on 2)

The silicon photonics device of claim 2, wherein a fourth distance between a top of the second dielectric structure and a bottom of the third dielectric structure is about 450 nanometers.

### Claim 15 (depends on 2)

The silicon photonics device of claim 2, wherein the first dielectric structure and the second dielectric structure have a same height.

### Claim 16 (depends on 2)

The silicon photonics device of claim 2, wherein a height of the third dielectric structure is less than that of the second dielectric structure by a factor of about 3.

### Claim 17 (depends on 5)

The silicon photonics device of claim 5, wherein a height of the first metal layer is twice than that of the diffusion barrier and adhesion layer.

### Claim 18

A LIDAR sensor for a vehicle, the LIDAR sensor comprising:
a silicon photonics device, the silicon photonics device including:
a substrate member;
a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) layer formed on the substrate member; and
a first antenna of the LIDAR sensor formed on the substrate member, the first antenna including:
a first grating structure in the SOI layer coupled to the substrate member;
a first dielectric structure coupled to the first grating structure; and
a first metal layer coupled to the first dielectric structure.

### Claim 19 (depends on 18)

The LIDAR sensor of claim 18, wherein the silicon photonics device further comprises:
a second antenna formed on the substrate member, the second antenna including:
a second grating structure in the SOI layer coupled to the substrate member; and
the first metal layer coupled to the second grating structure.

### Claim 20

An autonomous vehicle control system comprising:
a silicon photonics device for a LIDAR sensor of a vehicle, the silicon photonics device including:
a substrate member;
a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) layer formed on the substrate member; and
an antenna of the LIDAR sensor formed on the substrate member, the antenna including:
a first grating structure in the SOI layer coupled to the substrate member;
a first dielectric structure coupled to the first grating structure; and
a first metal layer coupled to the first dielectric structure.