Light generation and transportation in luminescent a-SiC:H thin film waveguides

Carbon-rich films were deposited from liquid oganosilane sources tetramethylsilane (TMS), hexamethyldisilane (HMDS) and hexamethyldisilazane (HMDSN). These films generally show efficient photoluminescence (PL) at room temperature (RT), when excited with ultraviolet (UV) light. For certain preparation conditions the self-absorption in the low energy wing of the PL can be reduced below 1 cm(-1). This property together with a sufficiently high index of refraction allows for a waveguide operation mode, where the guided light is generated in the waveguide itself via PL. particularly, a thermal post-treatment of the deposited films has a major influence on the self-absorption and on the PL.