Waveguide structures and a method of fabrication thereof

Abstract

A waveguide structure is fabricated by patterning active elements on a semiconductor wafer (21). The upper surface of the wafer (21) and the active elements are then coated by a dissolvable positive resist polymer. The polymer is etched using conventional techniques to produce a former for the structure of the waveguide channel and subsequently the polymer former is coated (26) and electroformed (27) using a suitable metallic material. Finally, the polymer former is dissolved leaving an open channel (25) the boundaries of which are defined by the electroformed structure. The waveguide structure has the advantage that the active elements are integral with the waveguide structure and lie in a common fabrication plane which means that if the depth of the waveguide varies the active elements remain in the same plane. The waveguide structure is particularly suited for use at terahertz frequencies.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.