Amorphous silicon and amorphous silicon nitride films prepared by a plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition process as optical coating materials

Abstract

Durable, uniform, and reproducible amorphous silicon and amorphous silicon nitride thin films deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition that are appropriate for the design and fabrication of optical interference filters in the near-infrared region are found. Optical and physicalk properties of single-layer films are discussed. The durability and performance of Fabry-Perot interference filters and a 15-layer long-pass edge filter in the near-infrared region designed and fabricated with these two thin-film materials are also reported.