Plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposited silicon oxynitride films for optical waveguide bridges for use in mechanical sensors

In this paper the influence of RF power, ammonia flow, annealing temperature, and annealing time on the optical and mechanical properties of plasma-enhanced chemically vapor deposited silicon oxynitride films, is presented. A low refractive index (1.47 to 1.48) film having tensile stress has been developed as cladding material for optical waveguides. By combining this waveguide material with a special type of UV photosensitive glass, a low tensile stress strip-loaded waveguide structure, based on a three-layer sandwich structure, has been designed and the stress distribution through the structure investigated.