Silicon photonics integration method and structure

A method of forming a semiconductor structure, comprising:

• forming an optical waveguide in an silicon on insulator (SOI) substrate;
• forming a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) device, a passive photonics device, and a photodetector material on the SOI substrate;
• forming encapsulating layers over the CMOS device, the passive photonics device, and the photodetector material;
• and
• forming a conformal sealing layer over the CMOS device, over the passive photonics device, and on a portion of the encapsulating layers over the photodetector material.

A semiconductor structure, comprising:

• an optical waveguide surrounded by isolation regions;
• a photodetector material over the optical waveguide;
• a plurality of silicon nitride layers over the photodetector material;
• a conformal silicon nitride sealing layer over the plurality of silicon nitride layers and over the photodetector material;
• and
• a silicon nitride barrier layer on the conformal silicon nitride sealing layer and over the photodetector material.