Simplified aluminum nitride processing for low-loss integrated photonics and nonlinear optics

Yan H, Zhang S, Pal A, Ghosh A, Alabbadi A, Kheyri M, Bi T, Zhang Y, Harder I, Ohletz O, Gannott F, Gumann A, Butzen E, Ludwig K, Del'Haye P (2026)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2026

Journal

npj nanophotonics Nature Publishing Group UK

Book Volume: 3

Article Number: 13

Journal Issue: 1

DOI: 10.1038/s44310-026-00107-7

Abstract

Aluminum nitride (AlN) is an extremely promising material for integrated photonics because of the combination of strong χ(2) and χ(3) nonlinearities. However, the intrinsic hardness of the material and charging effects during electron beam lithography make AlN nanofabrication a challenging process. Conventional approaches often require multiple hard masks and a metal mask to fabricate nanostructures. In this letter, we report a novel, simple method to fabricate AlN microresonators by using a single layer of silicon nitride mask combined with a thin conductive polymer layer. The conductive layer can be conveniently removed during developing without requiring an additional etching step. We achieve a high etching selectivity of 4:1 between AlN and the mask, enabling mid-infrared photonic device fabrication, as well as high intrinsic quality (Q) factors of up to 1.0 × 10⁶ in AlN microresonators. Furthermore, we demonstrate several nonlinear phenomena within these devices, including frequency comb generation, Raman lasing, third-harmonic generation, and supercontinuum generation.

Authors with CRIS profile

Haochen Yan Lehrstuhl für Experimentalphysik Arghadeep Pal Lehrstuhl für Experimentalphysik Alekhya Ghosh Lehrstuhl für Experimentalphysik Abdullah Alabbadi Lehrstuhl für Experimentalphysik Masoud Kheyri Lehrstuhl für Experimentalphysik Toby Bi Lehrstuhl für Experimentalphysik Pascal Del'Haye Lehrstuhl für Experimentalphysik

Involved external institutions

Max-Planck-Institut für die Physik des Lichts (MPL) / Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light DE Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Yan, H., Zhang, S., Pal, A., Ghosh, A., Alabbadi, A., Kheyri, M.,... Del'Haye, P. (2026). Simplified aluminum nitride processing for low-loss integrated photonics and nonlinear optics. npj nanophotonics, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44310-026-00107-7

MLA:

Yan, Haochen, et al. "Simplified aluminum nitride processing for low-loss integrated photonics and nonlinear optics." npj nanophotonics 3.1 (2026).

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