Microfabrication of Si-Based High-Index-Contrast-Grating Structure by Thermal Nanoimprint Lithography and Cl 2 /Xe-Inductively Coupled Plasma Etching

We demonstrated the fabrication of a Si-based high-index-contrast-grating (HCG) structure by thermal nanoimprint lithography and Cl 2 /Xe-inductively coupled plasma (ICP) etching. A vertical etching profile and a smooth etched surface, which satisfy the requirements for optical device application, were obtained. We believe that this proposed process is useful for the microfabrication of Si-based optical devices, such as the HCG structure, photonic crystals, narrow optical waveguides, and micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS).