The optical properties of a visible light filter integrated on the silicon substrate

There have been many investigations performed for color filtering based on surface plasmon resonances in recent years. However, research results on color filters integrated on the silicon-based photodetectors are infrequently reported. At present, problems including low light transmission, wide full width at half maximum (FWHM), and poor color tunability exist in the light filters integrated on the silicon-based photodetectors. We propose and numerically demonstrate a light filter with the periodic nanostructure and dielectric multi-layers integrated on the silicon substrate. Continuously tunable transmission visible spectra (400∼760 nm) are applied for the proposed filters. Hybrid resonant modes including plasmonic resonances and waveguide modes result in the extraordinary light transmission in the proposed filters. The simulations indicate that the integrated filter has more than 75% transmission and less than 25 nm full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the transmission curve for the destined wavelength. The proposed filter provides a solution for the combination of color filters with the silicon-based photosensors like CMOS photodiodes.