Low-loss planar optical waveguides based on plasma deposited silicon oxycarbide

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.

Silicon Compound Nanomaterials: Exploring Emission Mechanisms and Photobiological Applications

“…[144] This property has been used to develop low-loss waveguides in the near-infrared region. [145,146] Conversely, in recent years, the PL study on SiO x C y thin films has increased prominence due to its wide range of intensive emission in the visible spectra in recent years. [29,[120][121][122][123] Table 3 summarizes different methods for obtaining Si QDs embedded in the carbide and oxycarbide matrices and some of their related properties.…”

Sol-Gel Derived Silica-Titania Waveguide Films for Applications in Evanescent Wave Sensors—Comprehensive Study

“…Hence, the silicon platform is not attractive to small and medium-sized enterprises. For this reason, many research groups are trying to develop other, low-cost material platforms for applications in integrated optics technology [ 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 ], including chemical/biochemical evanescent wave sensors, which can be used in the Vis-NIR spectral range. Such research was also undertaken by our research group, and the results are presented in this article.…”