Characterization of SiON integrated waveguides via FTIR and AFM measurements

Author

Frers, Torsten ; Hett, Thomas ; Hilleringmann, Ulrich ; Berth, Gerhard ; Widhalm, Alex ; Zrenner, Artur

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. Eng. & Inf. Technol., Univ. of Paderborn, Paderborn, Germany

fYear

2011

fDate

27-28 Sept. 2011

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

4

Abstract

Silicon oxynitride (SiON) layers for telecommunication device application are grown by Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD) for various gas compositions of SiH₄, N₂O and NH₃. Processing and annealing effects on the oxynitride films were studied by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) measurements. By reduction of the silane (SiH₄) gas flow and enhancement of the PECVD deposition temperature, the absorption loss due to NH bands can be nearly completely erased. Furthermore the surface roughness can be reduced by decreasing the gas flow and rising the deposition temperature. First waveguide structures are introduced and their characterization is presented.

Keywords

Fourier transform spectra; annealing; atomic force microscopy; infrared spectra; integrated optics; optical communication equipment; optical materials; optical waveguides; plasma CVD; silicon compounds; surface roughness; thin films; AFM; FTIR; Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy; PECVD; SiON; absorption loss; annealing; atomic force microscopy; deposition temperature; films; gas flow; integrated waveguides; plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition; surface roughness; telecommunication device application; Annealing; Optical waveguides; Propagation losses; Silicon; Surface roughness; Surface treatment;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Semiconductor Conference Dresden (SCD), 2011

Conference_Location

Dresden

Print_ISBN

978-1-4577-0431-4

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/SCD.2011.6068744

Filename

6068744