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Reactive Deposition of Dielectrics by Ion Beam Assisted E-beam Evaporation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2011

Joshua Nightingale ,
T. Cornell ,
P. Samudrala ,
P. Poloju ,
L. A. Hornak  and
D. Korakakis
Joshua Nightingale
Affiliation:
jnightin@mix.wvu.edu, West Virginia University, Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, 817 Engineering Science Building, Morgantown, WV, 26506, United States
T. Cornell
Affiliation:
wvucompeng@yahoo.com, West Virginia University, Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, PO Box 6109, Morgantown, WV, 26506, United States
P. Samudrala
Affiliation:
pavan_jbit@yahoo.com, West Virginia University, Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, PO Box 6109, Morgantown, WV, 26506, United States
P. Poloju
Affiliation:
pranii.wvu@gmail.com, West Virginia University, Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, PO Box 6109, Morgantown, WV, 26506, United States
L. A. Hornak
Affiliation:
lah@csee.wvu.edu, West Virginia University, Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, PO Box 6109, Morgantown, WV, 26506, United States
D. Korakakis
Affiliation:
Dimitris.Korakakis@mail.wvu.edu, West Virginia University, Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, PO Box 6109, Morgantown, WV, 26506, United States
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Abstract

Fabrication of high index contrast waveguide stacks for biosensing and other applications require nanometer scale thickness control. Nanoscale dielectric films from electron-beam evaporation can be difficult to obtain due to the resulting porosity and poor stoichiometry of the films. An alternative approach is the reactive deposition of the film from a metal source in the presence of oxygen ions. Using spectroscopic ellipsometry, we have shown that greater control over thickness and index of refraction of silicon dioxide depositions can be obtained through reactive depositions as compared to depositions from SiO2 dielectric source material itself. Through Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), the Si-O in-phase stretching peak at 1078 cm-1 can be traced, allowing us to determine the stoichiometry of the film.

The effects of performing depositions of aluminum oxide dielectric source material in the presence of oxygen ions has also been investigated. Through the use of the oxygen ion source, greater control over index of refraction and optical losses has been observed. By controlling ion source parameters, the aluminum oxide films’ index of refraction can be engineered within a range of 1.58 to 1.64, and waveguide losses can be reduced to as low as 2.0 dB/cm.

Keywords

dielectricion-beam processingoptical properties
Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 983: Symposium LL – Focused Ion Beams for Analysis and Processing , 2006 , 0983-LL05-01
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2007

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