The main objectives of this thesis were to develop a lowtemperature PECVD process suitable for optoelectronicintegration, and to optimize silica glass composition forUV-induced modifications of a refractive index in PECVDfabricated planar devices. The most important achievement isthe successful development of a low temperature silicadeposition, which for the first time makes it is possible tofabricate good quality low loss integrated components whilekeeping the temperature below 250oC during the entirefabrication process. Two strong absorption peaks thatappear at1.5 mm communication window due to N-H and Si-H bonds have beencompletely eliminated by process optimization. This openspossibilities for monolithic integration with other,temperature sensitive devices, such as semiconductor lasers anddetectors, or polymer-based structures on the common siliconplatform. PECVD technology for low loss amorphous silicon inapplication to SiO2/Si based photonic crystal structures hasbeen also optimized to remove hydrogen incorporated during thedeposition process, responsible for the porosity of thedeposited material and creation of similar to silica absorptionbands. Change of the refractive index of germanium doped silicaunder UV irradiation is commonly used for fabrication of UVinduced fiber Bragg gratings. Here we describe our achievementsin fabrication of fiber Bragg gratings and their application todistributed sensor systems. Recently we have built up a laserlab for UV treatment in application to planar technology. Wehave demonstrated the high photosensitivity of PECVD depositedGe-doped glasses (not thermally annealed) even without hydrogenloading, leading to a record transmission suppression of 47dBin a Bragg grating photoinduced in a straight buried channelwaveguide. We have also used a UV induced refractive indexchange to introduce other device modifications or functions,such as phase shift, wavelength trimming and control ofpolarization birefringence.The developed low temperature technology and the UVprocessing form a unique technology platform for development ofnovel integrated functional devices for optical communicationsystems. A substantial part of the thesis has been devoted tostudying different plasma deposition parameters and theirinfluence on the optical characteristics of fabricatedwaveguides to find the processing window giving the besttrade-off between the deposition rate,chamber temperatureduring the process, optical losses and presence of absorptionbands within the interesting wavelength range. The optimalconditions identified in this study are low pressure (300-400mTorr), high dilution of silane in nitrous oxide and high totalflow (2000 sccm), low frequency (380 KHz) RF source and high RFpower levels (800-1000 W). The thesis provides better understanding of the plasmareactions during the deposition process. RF Power is the keyparameter for increasing the rate of surface processes so as toaccommodate each atomic layer in the lowest energy statepossible. All the process conditions which favor a moreenergetic ion bombardment (i.e. low pressure, low frequency andhigh power) improve the quality of the material, making it moredense and similar to thermal oxide, but after a certain pointthe positive trend with increasing power saturates. As theenergy of the incoming ion increases, a competing effect setsin at the surface: ion induced damage and resputtering. Finally, the developed technologies were applied for thefabrication of some test and new concept devices for opticalcommunication systems including multimode interference (MMI)-based couplers/splitters, state-of-the-art arrayed waveguidegrating-based multi/ demultiplexers, the first Bragg gratingassisted MMI-based add-drop multiplexer, as well as moreresearch oriented devices such as a Mach-Zehnder switch basedon silica poling and a Photonic Crystal-based coupler. <b>Keywords:</b>silica-on-silicon technology, PECVD, plasmadeposition, photonic integrated circuits, planar waveguidedevices, UV Bragg gratings, photosensitivity, arrayed waveguidegratings, multimode interference couplers, add-dropmultiplexers.

The last two decades have witnessed a large increase in capacity in telecommunication systems, thanks to the development of high bandwidth, fiber optic based networks. Nevertheless the continuing growth of Internet data traffic, fuelled by the development of numerous services like on-line commerce, video on demand, large audio/video files downloads, demands for a significant increase in the ability of the network nodes to manage incoming and outcoming data streams effectively and fast. The different functionalities that are needed include add/drop channel multiplexing, routing, signal reshaping and retiming, electrical/optical and optical/electrical conversion. This has stimulated a large effort towards the investigation of technologies for opto-electronic integration at a wafer level, in order to cope with all the required operations, while limiting overall costs. Among the different approaches proposed, one of the most promising is the “Silicon optical bench”, which relies on the well established VLSI technology for the microelectronics part and on planar lightwave circuits (PLCs) made either with silica-on-silicon waveguide technology (low index contrast) of amorphous silicon technology (high index contrast) on the integrated optics side. This thesis presents the development of new techniques and methodologies utilized in photonic device fabrication, which can be used to facilitate integration of temperature sensitive elements. The process is based on low temperature, plasma assisted, thick film deposition. First, a low temperature (300°C) deposition process based on Plasma assisted Chemical Vapour Deposition (PACVD) for the fabrication of silica based Planar Lightwave Circuits (PLC) is developed. The low thermal budget lends itself to monolithic integration with devices fabricated with different technologies. Absorption bands at around the wavelengths 1.48µm and 1.51µm caused by N-H and Si-H bonds within the material, respectively, had previously been thought to be intrinsic to the PACVD deposition method, when using N2O as oxidant gas of SiH4 and the other dopant precursors. The traditional method to eliminate these absorption bands was high temperature (&gt;1000°C) annealing that seriously hinders device integration. An important achievement in this thesis is the improved suppression of these two absorption bands while keeping the whole fabrication temperature below 300°C and also having a high deposition rate. A complete fabrication process for silica planar lightwave circuits was also developed, by optimising the photolithography and etching step. Finally the effect of dopants like Ge and B on the optical properties of the deposited silica glass was investigated, with particular emphasis to the photosensitive properties of the material upon illumination in the near UV. UV trimming is shown to be a versatile method to selectively control polarization birefringence of devices. Transmission dips of above 50dB were achieved in photo-induced gratings in low temperature deposited B-Ge codoped waveguide cores, without the need for hydrogen loading or other sensitisation techniques. The application of a high refractive index like amorphous silicon is addressed for the realization of efficient Bragg reflectors, either as vertical cavity laser mirrors or as dispersive element for planar waveguides used in highly selective co-directional coupler filters. Applications of amorphous silicon as core material for photonic crystal devices are also shown. The investigations carried out in this thesis show that PACVD technology can provide low-loss and UV sensitive material suitable for realizing a variety of low cost integrated devices for future all optical networks. / QC 20101004

<p>The main objectives of this thesis were to develop a lowtemperature PECVD process suitable for optoelectronicintegration, and to optimize silica glass composition forUV-induced modifications of a refractive index in PECVDfabricated planar devices. The most important achievement isthe successful development of a low temperature silicadeposition, which for the first time makes it is possible tofabricate good quality low loss integrated components whilekeeping the temperature below 250oC during the entirefabrication process. Two strong absorption peaks thatappear at1.5 mm communication window due to N-H and Si-H bonds have beencompletely eliminated by process optimization. This openspossibilities for monolithic integration with other,temperature sensitive devices, such as semiconductor lasers anddetectors, or polymer-based structures on the common siliconplatform. PECVD technology for low loss amorphous silicon inapplication to SiO2/Si based photonic crystal structures hasbeen also optimized to remove hydrogen incorporated during thedeposition process, responsible for the porosity of thedeposited material and creation of similar to silica absorptionbands.</p><p>Change of the refractive index of germanium doped silicaunder UV irradiation is commonly used for fabrication of UVinduced fiber Bragg gratings. Here we describe our achievementsin fabrication of fiber Bragg gratings and their application todistributed sensor systems. Recently we have built up a laserlab for UV treatment in application to planar technology. Wehave demonstrated the high photosensitivity of PECVD depositedGe-doped glasses (not thermally annealed) even without hydrogenloading, leading to a record transmission suppression of 47dBin a Bragg grating photoinduced in a straight buried channelwaveguide. We have also used a UV induced refractive indexchange to introduce other device modifications or functions,such as phase shift, wavelength trimming and control ofpolarization birefringence.The developed low temperature technology and the UVprocessing form a unique technology platform for development ofnovel integrated functional devices for optical communicationsystems.</p><p>A substantial part of the thesis has been devoted tostudying different plasma deposition parameters and theirinfluence on the optical characteristics of fabricatedwaveguides to find the processing window giving the besttrade-off between the deposition rate,chamber temperatureduring the process, optical losses and presence of absorptionbands within the interesting wavelength range. The optimalconditions identified in this study are low pressure (300-400mTorr), high dilution of silane in nitrous oxide and high totalflow (2000 sccm), low frequency (380 KHz) RF source and high RFpower levels (800-1000 W).</p><p>The thesis provides better understanding of the plasmareactions during the deposition process. RF Power is the keyparameter for increasing the rate of surface processes so as toaccommodate each atomic layer in the lowest energy statepossible. All the process conditions which favor a moreenergetic ion bombardment (i.e. low pressure, low frequency andhigh power) improve the quality of the material, making it moredense and similar to thermal oxide, but after a certain pointthe positive trend with increasing power saturates. As theenergy of the incoming ion increases, a competing effect setsin at the surface: ion induced damage and resputtering.</p><p>Finally, the developed technologies were applied for thefabrication of some test and new concept devices for opticalcommunication systems including multimode interference (MMI)-based couplers/splitters, state-of-the-art arrayed waveguidegrating-based multi/ demultiplexers, the first Bragg gratingassisted MMI-based add-drop multiplexer, as well as moreresearch oriented devices such as a Mach-Zehnder switch basedon silica poling and a Photonic Crystal-based coupler.</p><p><b>Keywords:</b>silica-on-silicon technology, PECVD, plasmadeposition, photonic integrated circuits, planar waveguidedevices, UV Bragg gratings, photosensitivity, arrayed waveguidegratings, multimode interference couplers, add-dropmultiplexers.</p>