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Media type:
E-Article
Title:
Waveguiding Light into Silicon Oxycarbide
Contributor:
Memon, Faisal;
Morichetti, Francesco;
Melloni, Andrea
Published:
MDPI AG, 2017
Published in:
Applied Sciences, 7 (2017) 6, Seite 561
Language:
English
DOI:
10.3390/app7060561
ISSN:
2076-3417
Origination:
Footnote:
Description:
In this work, we demonstrate the fabrication of single mode optical waveguides in silicon oxycarbide (SiOC) with a high refractive index n = 1.578 on silica (SiO2), exhibiting an index contrast of Δn = 8.2%. Silicon oxycarbide layers were deposited by reactive RF magnetron sputtering of a SiC target in a controlled process of argon and oxygen gases. The optical properties of SiOC film were measured with spectroscopic ellipsometry in the near-infrared range and the acquired refractive indices of the film exhibit anisotropy on the order of 10−2. The structure of the SiOC films is investigated with atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The channel waveguides in SiOC are buried in SiO2 (n = 1.444) and defined with UV photolithography and reactive ion etching techniques. Propagation losses of about 4 dB/cm for both TE and TM polarizations at telecommunication wavelength 1550 nm are estimated with cut-back technique. Results indicate the potential of silicon oxycarbide for guided wave applications.