Title :
Characterization of PECVD oxynitride optical waveguides
Author :
Zhang, Ailing ; Chan, Kam Tai
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electron. Eng., Chinese Univ. of Hong Kong, China
Abstract :
Silicon oxynitride films with varying oxygen/nitrogen ratios have been grown by PECVD using SiH4, N2O, N2 and NH3 gases. The refractive index of the film can be smoothly varied by changing the SiH4/N2O flow ratio. Rectangular optical channel waveguides are successfully fabricated by growing a sandwich oxynitride structure together with dry etching. The waveguide propagation loss has been characterized and annealing is shown to be an effective means to reduce the loss significantly. A broader waveguide will also have much smaller loss than a narrow waveguide.
Keywords :
annealing; etching; optical fabrication; optical films; optical losses; optical materials; optical waveguides; plasma CVD; rectangular waveguides; refractive index; silicon compounds; 2 gases; N2O gases; NH3 gases; PECVD oxynitride optical waveguides; SiH4 gases; SiH4/N2O flow ratio; SiON; annealing; dry etching; narrow waveguide; oxygen/nitrogen ratios; rectangular optical channel waveguides; refractive index; sandwich oxynitride structure; silicon oxynitride films; waveguide propagation loss; Gases; Nitrogen; Optical films; Optical losses; Optical refraction; Optical variables control; Optical waveguides; Propagation losses; Semiconductor films; Silicon;
Conference_Titel :
Lasers and Electro-Optics, 2003. CLEO/Pacific Rim 2003. The 5th Pacific Rim Conference on
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-7766-4
DOI :
10.1109/CLEOPR.2003.1277105
