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Refractive index properties of SiN thin films and fabrication of SiN optical waveguide

  • 1. Informatics: Dielectrics, Ferroelectrics, and Piezoelectrics
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Abstract

SiN thin films having excellent surface morphology for the optical device application were synthesized using a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) method at low temperature (350∘C) using silane (SiH4) and nitrogen (N2). The effects of the SiH4/N2 flow ratio, rf power and annealing on the SiN films were investigated. The optical and structural properties of SiN films were characterized using an ellipsometry, a fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and an atomic force microscope (AFM). The refractive index increased from 1.6 to 2.3 as the SiH4/N2 ratio was increased from 0.17 to 1.67. The rms surface roughness decreased from 14.1 to 3.6Å after post-deposition annealing process performed at 800∘C for 1hr in an air ambient. We could fabricate straight waveguides based on a three layer structure and have no problems with step coverage.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Advanced Materials Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, 440-746, Korea

    D. S. Kim, S. G. Yoon, S. J. Suh, H. Kim & D. H. Yoon

  2. Department of Materials Science & Materials Engineering, Chungbuk University, Cheongju, 361-763, Korea

    G. E. Jang

Authors
  1. D. S. Kim
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  2. S. G. Yoon
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  3. G. E. Jang
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  4. S. J. Suh
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  5. H. Kim
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  6. D. H. Yoon
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Correspondence to D. H. Yoon.

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Kim, D.S., Yoon, S.G., Jang, G.E. et al. Refractive index properties of SiN thin films and fabrication of SiN optical waveguide. J Electroceram 17, 315–318 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10832-006-9710-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10832-006-9710-x

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