title: Improved environmental stability for plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition SiO2waveguides using buried channel designs.
abstract: Ridge and buried channel waveguides (BCWs) made using plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition SiO2were fabricated and tested after being subjected to long 85°C water baths. The water bath was used to investigate the effects of any water absorption in the ridge and BCWs. Optical mode spreading and power throughput were measured over a period of three weeks. The ridge waveguides quickly absorbed water within the critical guiding portion of the waveguide. This caused a nonuniformity in the refractive index profile, leading to poor modal confinement after only seven days. The BCWs possessed a low index top cladding layer of SiO2, which caused an increase in the longevity of the waveguides, and after 21 days, the BCW samples still maintained ~20% throughput, much higher than the ridge waveguides, which had a throughput under 5%.
authors.affiliation: Brigham Young University, Electrical and Computer Engineering, 459 Clyde Building, Provo, Utah 84602, United States.
authors.forename: Thomas A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Wall
authors.affiliation: Brigham Young University, Electrical and Computer Engineering, 459 Clyde Building, Provo, Utah 84602, United States.
authors.forename: Roger P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.affiliation: University of California, Santa Cruz, Baskin Engineering, Room 40, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, California 95064, United States.
authors.forename: Joshua W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Parks
authors.affiliation: University of California, Santa Cruz, Baskin Engineering, Room 40, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, California 95064, United States.
authors.forename: Damla
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ozcelik
authors.affiliation: University of California, Santa Cruz, Baskin Engineering, Room 40, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, California 95064, United States.
authors.forename: Holger
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.affiliation: Brigham Young University, Electrical and Computer Engineering, 459 Clyde Building, Provo, Utah 84602, United States.
authors.forename: Aaron R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Hawkins
keywords: integrated waveguides; plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition; silicon dioxide; water absorption; waveguide lifetime