Low propagation loss silicon-on-sapphire waveguides for the mid-infrared

We report record low loss silicon-on-sapphire nanowires for applications to mid infrared optics. We achieve propagation losses as low as 0.8 dB/cm at λ = 1550 nm, ~1.1 to 1.4 dB/cm at λ = 2080 nm and < 2dB/cm at λ = 5.18 μm.