Nowadays, silicon photonics is a widely studied research topic. Its high-index-contrast and compatibility with the complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor technology make it a promising platform for low cost high density integration. Several general problems have been brought up, including the lack of silicon active devices, the difficulty of light coupling, the polarization dependence, etc. This thesis aims to give new attempts to novel solutions for some of these problems. Both theoretical modeling and experimental work have been done. Several numerical methods are reviewed first. The semi-vectorial finite-difference mode solver in cylindrical coordinate system is developed and it is mainly used for calculating the eigenmodes of the waveguide structures employed in this thesis. The finite-difference time-domain method and beam propagation method are also used to analyze the light propagation in complex structures. The fabrication and characterization technologies are studied. The fabrication is mainly based on clean room facilities, including plasma assisted film deposition, electron beam lithography and dry etching. The vertical coupling system is mainly used for characterization in this thesis. Compared with conventional butt-coupling system, it can provide much higher coupling efficiency and larger alignment tolerance. Two novel couplers related to silicon photonic wires are studied. In order to improve the coupling efficiency of a grating coupler, a nonuniform grating is theoretically designed to maximize the overlap between the radiated light profile and the optical fiber mode. Over 60% coupling efficiency is obtained experimentally. Another coupler facilitating the light coupling between silicon photonic wires and slot waveguides is demonstrated, both theoretically and experimentally. Almost lossless coupling is achieved in experiments. Two approaches are studied to realize polarization insensitive devices based on silicon photonic wires. The first one is the use of a sandwich waveguide structure to eliminate the polarization dependent wavelength of a microring resonator. By optimizing the multilayer structure, we successfully eliminate the large birefringence in an ultrasmall ring resonator. Another approach is to use polarization diversity scheme. Two key components of the scheme are studied. An efficient polarization beam splitter based on a one-dimensional grating coupler is theoretically designed and experimentally demonstrated. This polarization beam splitter can also serve as an efficient light coupler between silicon-on-insulator waveguides and optical fibers. Over 50% coupling efficiency for both polarizations and -20dB extinction ratio between them are experimentally obtained. A compact polarization rotator based on silicon photonic wire is theoretically analyzed. 100% polarization conversion is achievable and the fabrication tolerance is relatively large by using a compensation method. A novel integration platform based on nano-epitaxial lateral overgrowth technology is investigated to realize monolithic integration of III-V materials on silicon. A silica mask is used to block the threading dislocations from the InP seed layer on silicon. Technologies such as hydride vapor phase epitaxy and chemical-mechanical polishing are developed. A thin dislocation free InP layer on silicon is obtained experimentally. / QC20100705

L'objectif de ce travail de thèse a été d'évaluer, à partir d'outils de caractérisation électrique (spectroscopie d'impédance basse fréquence et courants thermo-stimulés), l'impact des étapes de polissage mécanochimique (CMP) et de recuits thermiques sur les propriétés diélectriques de matériaux utilisés pour les dernières générations de circuits intégrés. Une première partie est focalisée sur le matériau SiOCH poreux déposé par voie chimique « en phase vapeur » assisté par plasma (PECVD) suivant une approche porogène (p=26%, d=2nm et er=2,5). Son intégration dans les technologies 45nm nécessite l'utilisation d'un procédé de ‘CMP directe' qui induit une dégradation des propriétés isolantes attribuée à l'adsorption de surfactants et de molécules d'eau. L'analyse diélectrique sur une large gamme de fréquence (10-1Hz- 105Hz) et de température (-120°C -200°C) a mis en évidence plusieurs mécanismes de relaxation diélectrique et de conduction liés à la présence de molécules nanoconfinées (eau et porogène) dans les pores du matériau. L'étude de ces mécanismes a permis d'illustrer le phénomène de reprise en eau du SiOCH poreux ainsi que d'évaluer la capacité de traitements thermiques à en restaurer les performances. Une seconde partie concerne l'étude d'une résine époxy chargée avec des nanoparticules de silice, utilisée en tant que ‘wafer level underfill' dans les technologies d'intégration 3D. Les analyses en spectroscopie d'impédance ont montré que l'ajout de nanoparticules de silice s'accompagne d'une élévation de la température de transition vitreuse et de la permittivité diélectrique, ainsi que d'une diminution de la conductivité basse fréquence. L'autre contribution majeure des mesures diélectriques a été de montrer qu'un refroidissement trop rapide de la résine à l'issue de la réticulation était responsable d'une contrainte interne qui pourra occasionner des problèmes de fiabilité pour l'application. / The aim of the thesis was to investigate, by electrical means (dielectric spectroscopy and thermally stimulated current), the impact of the chemical-mechanical polishing process and of thermal treatments on the dielectric properties of materials used in state-of-the-art Integrated Circuit (IC) technologies. A first part focuses on the nanoporous SiOCH (p=26%, e=2 nm and er=2,5) thin films deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) using a porogen approach. After undergoing a process of direct CMP for its integration in the 45 nm node technology and beyond, those films experience a degradation of the insulating properties due to the adsorption of water and surfactants. A dielectric analysis performed on a wide range of frequency (10-1Hz - 105Hz) and temperature (-120°C - 200°C) exhibited many dielectric relaxation and conduction mechanisms due to molecules (water and porogen) nano-confined in pores. The phenomenon of water uptake of the porous SiOCH has been enlightened and the efficiency of thermal treatment to restore its performances has been evaluated through the study of these mechanisms. A second part deals with an epoxy resin filled with nano-particles of silica used as ‘wafer level underfill' for the 3D integration. Impedance spectroscopy showed that the addition of nano-particles induces an increase in the glass transition temperature and dielectric permittivity, as well as a decrease of the low frequencyconductivity. Furthermore, the dielectric measurements showed that a fast cool down of the resin after the cross-linking stage give rise to internal stresses which could potentially lead to reliability issues.