Heavy-ion elastic-recoil detection ananlysis of doped-silica films for integrated photonics

Abstract

Photosensitive Ge- and Sn-doped silica films are being developed for integrated photonics applications. Such films can be deposited by plasma assisted deposition techniques and their initial refractive index and photosensitivity are determined by the Ge(Sn):Si:O stoichiometry. The presence of H in the films is detrimental to their performance because it causes optical absorption in the 1.3-1.5 μm wavelength range of interest for telecommunications. Characterization of the films therefore requires accurate determination of the film composition, including the presence of H. Heavy-ion elastic-recoil detection (ERD) is shown to provide such information in a single measurement.