Ge-B-P doped silica films were fabricated by Flame Hydrolysis Deposition and their plasma etching characteristics were investigated for the fabrication of waveguide devices. Ge-B-P doped silica films were used for the Planar Lightwave Circuit device employed in the next generation optical communication networks. Since the deep etching of silica film is required for the successful fabrication of these devices, Inductively Coupled Plasma etching was employed in this work. To find the optimum etching conditions, the etching characteristics in terms of various etching conditions, such as reactive gas flow rate, the source power, and the bias power, were studied. The formation of fluorocarbon polymer deposition was investigated and the correlation to the overall etching characteristics, such as the etching speed, the roughness of the etched surface and sidewall, were analyzed.

Keywords: Optical waveguide, PLC, ICP, Plasma etching