Influence of hydrogen on SiO2 thick film deposited by PECVD and FHD for silica optical waveguide

Silicon dioxide (SiO₂) thick films have been deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) and flame hydrolysis deposition (FHD). PECVD SiO₂ films were obtained at low temperatures (<350 °C) by the decomposition of the appropriate mixture of (SiH₄+N₂O) gases under suitable rf power and N₂O/SiH₄ ratio. For low N₂O/SiH₄ ratio, a refractive index(n) value close to 1.50 is obtained. The deposition rate increased with the increase of rf power. FHD SiO₂ films were produced by the flame hydrolysis reaction of halide materials such as SiCl₄, POCl₃ and BCl₃ in an oxy‐hydrogen torch. The porous SiO₂ layer, under the POCl₃/BCl₃ ratio deposition condition, has to be consolidated by annealing at around 1300 °C.