AVS 49th International Symposium
    Thin Films Monday Sessions
       Session TF-MoM

Paper TF-MoM7
Plasma Deposited Inhomogeneous Optical Filters

Monday, November 4, 2002, 10:20 am, Room C-101

Session: Optical Thin Films
Presenter: S. Larouche, Ecole Polytechnique, Canada
Authors: S. Larouche, Ecole Polytechnique, Canada
A. Amassian, Ecole Polytechnique, Canada
H. Szymanowski, Ecole Polytechnique, Canada
J.E. Klemberg-Sapieha, Ecole Polytechnique, Canada
L. Martinu, Ecole Polytechnique, Canada
Correspondent: Click to Email
Plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) of inhomogeneous optical filters with a continuously varying refractive index profile (for example, rugate filters) offers a unique opportunity to combine the advantageous optical (elimination of harmonics, suppression of sidelobes), mechanical (compensation of stress, scratch- and wear resistance), and technological (high deposition rate) characteristics. In the present work, we study the optical and structural properties of mixed TiO2/SiO2 materials obtained by PECVD from TiCl4 and SiCl4 precursors. We evaluate the effect of the fabrication conditions on the refractive index, deposition rate, chemical structure and morphology at every moment of the film growth using numerous complementary techniques; this includes in-situ and ex-situ wide-range spectroscopic ellipsometry (UV-VIS-NIR-IR), spectrophotometry, FTIR, XPS, XRD, AFM, and other methods. Detailed knowledge of the microstructural evolution, combined with real-time in-situ spectroellipsometric process monitoring, is then used to fabricate model single-band and multiband optical filters in the visible and NIR regions. Optical and mechanical performance, environmental stability, and advanced applications of such filters are evaluated and discussed.