The Influence of Deposition Temperature and Material Stress on Low-Loss Silicon Nitride Films for Integrated Quantum Optics

We report on an optimization procedure for depositing low-loss silicon nitride films at temperatures of 760 °C and 820 °C using low-pressure chemical vapor deposition. They were characterized in terms of quality and compositional proximity to stoichiometric silicon nitride. Fil...

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Main Authors: Abubaker M. Tareki, Connor Kupchak, Khaled Mnaymneh
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2023-01-01
Series:IEEE Photonics Journal
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10146373/
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author Abubaker M. Tareki
Connor Kupchak
Khaled Mnaymneh
author_facet Abubaker M. Tareki
Connor Kupchak
Khaled Mnaymneh
author_sort Abubaker M. Tareki
collection DOAJ
description We report on an optimization procedure for depositing low-loss silicon nitride films at temperatures of 760 °C and 820 °C using low-pressure chemical vapor deposition. They were characterized in terms of quality and compositional proximity to stoichiometric silicon nitride. Films deposited at 760 °C showed a higher stoichiometry, with a silicon-to-nitrogen ratio of 0.744, when compared to the 820 °C film, which had a ratio of 0.77. We found the film deposited at the lower temperature had a smoother surface and exhibited lower optical losses. We investigated the impact of film stress on the refractive index of the film and found that removing the backside nitride from the wafer after deposition has a major effect on refractive index values. When using these films for integrated nonlinear and quantum applications, such as frequency conversion or soliton generation, knowledge of how the index changes with wafer and fabrication processing is critical for predicting the correct geometries, and the concomitant group velocities, needed to realize such quantum technologies.
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spelling doaj.art-2da0381ce00b427ba4314392ff6aaacc2023-06-20T23:00:16ZengIEEEIEEE Photonics Journal1943-06552023-01-011541710.1109/JPHOT.2023.328420410146373The Influence of Deposition Temperature and Material Stress on Low-Loss Silicon Nitride Films for Integrated Quantum OpticsAbubaker M. Tareki0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8117-0989Connor Kupchak1https://orcid.org/0009-0005-2635-4047Khaled Mnaymneh2Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, CanadaCarleton University, Ottawa, ON, CanadaNational Research Council Canada, Ottawa, ON, CanadaWe report on an optimization procedure for depositing low-loss silicon nitride films at temperatures of 760 °C and 820 °C using low-pressure chemical vapor deposition. They were characterized in terms of quality and compositional proximity to stoichiometric silicon nitride. Films deposited at 760 °C showed a higher stoichiometry, with a silicon-to-nitrogen ratio of 0.744, when compared to the 820 °C film, which had a ratio of 0.77. We found the film deposited at the lower temperature had a smoother surface and exhibited lower optical losses. We investigated the impact of film stress on the refractive index of the film and found that removing the backside nitride from the wafer after deposition has a major effect on refractive index values. When using these films for integrated nonlinear and quantum applications, such as frequency conversion or soliton generation, knowledge of how the index changes with wafer and fabrication processing is critical for predicting the correct geometries, and the concomitant group velocities, needed to realize such quantum technologies.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10146373/Film depositionfilm stressmicrofabricationnanotechnologynonlinear refractive indexsilicon nitride
spellingShingle Abubaker M. Tareki
Connor Kupchak
Khaled Mnaymneh
The Influence of Deposition Temperature and Material Stress on Low-Loss Silicon Nitride Films for Integrated Quantum Optics
IEEE Photonics Journal
Film deposition
film stress
microfabrication
nanotechnology
nonlinear refractive index
silicon nitride
title The Influence of Deposition Temperature and Material Stress on Low-Loss Silicon Nitride Films for Integrated Quantum Optics
title_full The Influence of Deposition Temperature and Material Stress on Low-Loss Silicon Nitride Films for Integrated Quantum Optics
title_fullStr The Influence of Deposition Temperature and Material Stress on Low-Loss Silicon Nitride Films for Integrated Quantum Optics
title_full_unstemmed The Influence of Deposition Temperature and Material Stress on Low-Loss Silicon Nitride Films for Integrated Quantum Optics
title_short The Influence of Deposition Temperature and Material Stress on Low-Loss Silicon Nitride Films for Integrated Quantum Optics
title_sort influence of deposition temperature and material stress on low loss silicon nitride films for integrated quantum optics
topic Film deposition
film stress
microfabrication
nanotechnology
nonlinear refractive index
silicon nitride
url https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10146373/
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