Abstract
Silicon oxycarbide deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition is investigated regarding its application as a material for optical waveguides. The dependence of the infrared absorption, the refractive index, and the surface roughness on the precursor gas flow ratios is studied by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, ellipsometry, and atomic force microscopy, respectively. Results show that the refractive index can be tuned over a significant wider range compared to silicon oxynitride. Fabricated waveguides with a refractive index contrast of 0.05 show waveguide attenuation from about 0.3 dB/cm to 0.4 dB/cm for wavelengths between 1480 nm and 1570 nm. These low values were achieved without using a high temperature annealing process.
Highlights
Silicon based low-loss optical waveguide technologies enable a cost efficient wafer scale production of photonic integrated circuits for a wide range of applications
In contrast to silicon oxycarbide (SiOC) waveguides fabricated with magnetron sputtering exhibiting waveguide attenuations around 4 dB/cm [17] this study focuses on waveguides fabricated with a plasmaenhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) process
We have shown by experimental investigations that low-loss SiOC waveguides can be realized
Summary
Silicon based low-loss optical waveguide technologies enable a cost efficient wafer scale production of photonic integrated circuits for a wide range of applications. An annealing process at temperatures over 1100 °C can be used to drive out the hydrogen [12] The latter approach is problematic, because the differences in the thermal expansion coefficients cause high mechanical stress which can induce birefringence and can lead to cracks [12]. Since the N-H bond has a first overtone close to the C Band, the impact of the Si-H bond is expected to be much lower This opens the possibility to circumvent the high temperature annealing process. Another advantage of SiOC is the greater tuneability of the refractive index, since silicon carbide (SiC) has a significantly higher refractive index than SiN.
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