JP3199829B2 - Manufacturing method of amorphous carbon film - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for producing an optical path for infrared light constituted by a carbon thin film.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An optical integrated circuit has been proposed in the late 1960s. Conventionally, an optical system for this purpose is one in which a light source such as a laser or a lamp, a lens, a reflecting mirror, and the like are arranged on a surface plate and the optical path is carefully adjusted.

[0003] Therefore, the size of the optical system itself is inevitably increased, and at the same time, the possibility of occurrence of a deviation in the optical path due to vibration or contact with other parts or tools is increased.
On the other hand, the aim of this optical integrated circuit was to integrate such optical paths as a silicon IC to achieve miniaturization and high functionality.

Among the optical devices, those using infrared light are infrared optical devices represented by an infrared absorption spectrometer (hereinafter referred to as an IR spectrometer). Even in the case of an IR analyzer, an optical path using a lens, a reflecting mirror, or the like is generally provided inside the device, and as a matter of course, like the other optical measuring devices, the device is extremely reluctant to vibrate.

[0005] Further, as a problem of the IR analyzer,
In addition to vibration, there is a problem regarding the material of the optical system component. Generally, a material having extremely high hygroscopicity typified by KBr must be used as a transparent material in an infrared wavelength region for a prism, a window, and the like of an IR analyzer. For this reason, very strict management is required for the measurement and storage environment of the IR analyzer, such as humidity adjustment inside the apparatus.

As described above, the IR analyzer has two problems. That is, as with other optical devices, it is vulnerable to vibration, and it is necessary to use a highly hygroscopic substance such as KBr.

[0007] Here, when the infrared integrated optical device is used,
As a result, the durability against external vibrations is improved, and the device itself can be extremely miniaturized. This makes it possible to greatly reduce the required area of KBr. In addition, it is possible to simplify and downsize not only the IR analyzer but also various infrared utilizing technologies.

[0008]

However, at present, the technology for manufacturing an optical integrated device including infrared rays has just begun, and no effective proposal has been made yet regarding the material constituting the device or the manufacturing method thereof.

For example, in optical communication technology using laser light in the infrared region, which is currently expected to be put to practical use, various materials such as quartz glass or a compound thereof have been developed as optical fibers. An optical path material for infrared rays having low loss in the entire region (about 1 μm to 1 mm) has not been put to practical use, and no effective material has been obtained for spectroscopy using infrared rays.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for forming an optical path suitable for an optical circuit using infrared rays using an amorphous silicon carbide thin film.

[0011]

Means for Solving the Problems The present inventors have found that the hydrogen content is 5%.
% Or less, and is formed by the random existence of sp ³ bonds between carbons. Further, an amorphous carbon thin film having a hardness very close to that of diamond (hereinafter referred to as diamond-like carbon = DLC) Since it is transparent in the infrared wavelength region, a DLC thin film is used as a material for the infrared light integrated device, and an optical path or a diffraction grating is formed using the DLC thin film by applying a method of manufacturing a semiconductor material thin film. It has been found that an optical integrated device for infrared light can be manufactured.

According to the present invention, an infrared optical waveguide (optical path) having a structure in which a DLC film having a high refractive index is sandwiched by a DLC film having a low refractive index is formed using a plasma CVD apparatus, and an optical integrated device circuit, an optical integrated circuit, and the like are formed. The present invention proposes a basic method for manufacturing an integrated device material.

According to the present invention, 1. A carbon ion generated in a plasma by applying a bias potential from the outside to a substrate stage (an electrode on which a substrate material is placed) and changing the applied bias potential during film formation. A method of forming a DLC single-layer film or a multi-layer film having a different refractive index by only one step.

2. An optical path portion pattern (high dielectric constant material) and a non-optical path portion pattern (low dielectric constant material) on a substrate stage or an opposing electrode plate using dielectrics having different dielectric constants.
Are formed, and a discharge voltage difference is generated between the optical path portion pattern and the non-optical path portion pattern, thereby increasing the radical density in the plasma near the substrate in the optical path portion. A single-layer film or a multi-layer film having an optical path pattern constituted by a DLC having a different refractive index by the same effect as in 1. To form a film in one step.

This is a method for producing an infrared light path constituted by using the two techniques individually or simultaneously.

Hereinafter, the configuration of the present invention will be further described.

As a basic technology of an optical fiber, an optical path having a certain refractive index (called a core; refractive index = n) is a region having a lower refractive index than that optical path (called a clad).
It is known that the light is totally reflected and transmitted inside the optical path by being sandwiched by the refractive index <n). Therefore, by forming the core and the clad using a transparent material in an infrared region, an optical path for infrared light can be formed, and a circuit of an infrared optical integrated device can be formed using this.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the core and the clad. 101 corresponds to the core portion, and 102 on both sides thereof correspond to the cladding portion. The relationship between the size of the core portion and the size of the clad portion is determined by the configuration of the target device and the required optical signal transmission amount. As described above, when the refractive index of the clad portion is <n with respect to the refractive index of the core portion, total internal reflection and propagation of the optical signal occur inside the core. Particularly, when the refractive index difference between the core and the clad is set to 1% and the refractive index distribution is set to be gently changed inside the core, good dispersion characteristics are obtained, and an optical path with very good propagation efficiency is obtained. ing.

In order to form an optical path by DLC for the above reasons, it is necessary to adjust the refractive index of the DLC thin film during film formation. We have 13.56 MH
A DLC film is formed using a parallel plate type plasma CVD apparatus using a high frequency of z (commonly used as an industrial frequency). At this time, a bias potential is applied to the substrate stage side electrode. It was confirmed that the refractive index of the DLC thin film could be adjusted by adjusting the potential with the substrate side being negative. This is because the carbon ions generated in the plasma are attracted to the substrate when the substrate side has a negative potential, but a difference occurs in the acceleration toward the substrate depending on the bias potential. This is because the implantation of the ions increases the density of the DLC, thereby making it possible to form a DLC layer having a high refractive index.

The transmittance of the DLC film in the infrared region is guaranteed when the hydrogen content in the film is low. This is because infrared absorption occurs when a C—H bond is formed in the film. Through our experiments,
It was confirmed that there was no practical problem if the hydrogen content in the film was 5 atomic% or less. It has been confirmed in the past that the hydrogen content in the film changes with the bias potential as well as the refractive index of the film. Therefore, it is desirable that the value of the bias potential is adjusted within a range where the hydrogen concentration does not exceed 5 atomic%. However, this potential changes depending on the film forming method and experimental conditions.

A method for forming an optical path pattern will be described below. DLC film formation using the plasma CVD apparatus is divided into several steps, a clad layer is formed on the entire surface in a first step, and a sufficient thickness (preferably 1 mm) is formed on a counter electrode side surface or a substrate stage in a second step. ) And the dielectric constant is largely different (difference in relative dielectric constant is 2.5 to 3.5 or more). The optical path pattern (high dielectric constant material) and the non-optical path pattern (low dielectric constant material) are made of different dielectric materials. Form two types of patterns,
An optical path portion (core portion) and a non-light portion (cladding portion) are formed thereon by setting a substrate thereon. That is, a local capacitance difference occurs due to the dielectric constant of the counter electrode side surface or the substrate back surface, and in addition to the above-described formation of the refractive index difference due to the bias potential, patterning and fabrication of the optical path portion and the non-optical path portion can be easily performed. In addition, it can be manufactured in one process. As a third step, a cladding layer is formed on the entire surface, and an optical path for infrared light is completed. Hereinafter, the present invention will be described by way of examples.

[0022]

This embodiment is directed to a parallel plate type high frequency plasma CV.
Using a D apparatus, an attempt was made to produce DLC members having different refractive indices required for an optical integrated device for infrared rays by DLC. FIG. 2 shows a plasma CVD apparatus. The apparatus is composed of two reaction chambers having separate exhaust systems (5) and (11) and gas supply systems (6) and (13). In the first reaction chamber (7), SU is used.
An electrode plate made of S316 is used on both the power supply side (2) and the ground potential side (3). In the second reaction chamber (14), dielectrics (15) and (16) are installed on the ground potential side electrode plate (12), and the power supply side (2) is a SUS316 electrode plate. The sizes of the electrode plates are all φ100 mm. A power supply in which the substrate (1) is installed through a gate valve (8) that completely separates the first reaction chamber and the second reaction chamber, and a high-frequency power supply (9) is connected to a DC power supply (10) for applying a bias potential. By moving the side electrode plate (2) and separately forming a film in each reaction chamber, it is possible to perform single-tissue film formation and optical path pattern film formation without opening to the atmosphere.

When a film is formed by using such a plasma CVD apparatus, it is known that a negative potential (self-bias) is generated at the power supply apparatus installation side electrode in accordance with the applied power. Since the self-bias naturally attracts ions, ion implantation may occur during film formation. In some cases, the ground potential side is used as the substrate stage in the parallel plate type plasma CVD apparatus because some objects to be deposited do not like the damage caused by the ion implantation. This time, the aim is to improve the density and control the refractive index by ion implantation. Therefore, in the present invention, the substrate is placed on the power supply device installation side electrode, and a DC power supply (constant voltage) is further installed on the power supply side electrode as shown in the figure to externally adjust the bias potential.

The source gas is CH ₄ 20 ccm + H ₂ 40 c
cm. In addition, various hydrocarbon gases such as C ₂ H ₆ or vaporized methanol may be used. The gas was supplied through the inside of the ground-side electrode plate and blown out toward the substrate from the hole provided on the surface of the ground-side electrode to make the gas concentration inside the parallel electrode as uniform as possible.

A wide variety of materials can be used for the substrate, such as a semiconductor substrate such as silicon single crystal, a metal material substrate such as molybdenum, various glass substrates, and an organic material substrate such as plastics. In particular, if adhesion is a problem, the use of an organic material substrate may be effective. In the present embodiment, an inexpensive Pyrex glass substrate (50 mm ×
50 mm).

As for the temperature of the substrate, the temperature on the back surface of the substrate was measured by a thermocouple installed on the surface of the substrate stage (= electrode plate). During the film formation, the substrate is not particularly heated, but it is conceivable that a temperature difference occurs between the surface of the substrate in contact with the plasma and the rear surface near room temperature. The temperature difference between the front surface and the back surface during plasma discharge was measured by a preliminary experiment, and the substrate temperature was predicted based on the numerical values during film formation.

Hereinafter, the manufacturing procedure will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The first step is the formation of the lower cladding layer (FIG. 3-A). The raw material gas is CH ₄ 20 ccm + H ₂ 4
The inside of the reaction chamber is evacuated to 5 × 10 ⁻³ Pa before film formation at 0 ccm, and then a reaction gas is introduced. The reaction pressure during film formation was set to 20 Pa, and stability was confirmed at this pressure, and high-frequency power was applied at 100 W to start discharging. The substrate temperature at this time is 1
It was confirmed that the temperature did not exceed 00 ° C.

After confirming the stability (appearance) of the plasma, a DC bias voltage is applied. The polarity was negative on the substrate stage side, and the applied voltage was 100 V. This means that a self-bias (approximately -180 V) accompanying the application of high-frequency power is further applied. Therefore, the substrate stage attracts ions in the plasma at a potential of -280 V. Therefore, ions reaching the surface of the substrate (1) have high kinetic energy.

The inventors of the present invention have conducted studies in the past that it is possible to control the hydrogen concentration, hardness and refractive index in a DLC film obtained by applying this DC bias voltage from the outside. Have confirmed. Regarding this phenomenon, the present inventors consider that the energy at the time of ion implantation causes the dehydrogenation reaction to proceed, and that the ion implantation improves the hardness and density (= refractive index) of the film just by a phenomenon similar to sputtering. I have. However, this DC bias application effect involves accumulation of compressive internal stress inside the film, and the magnitude of the internal stress is considered to be proportional to the DC bias potential. The DC bias potential to be applied should be determined from the ideal hydrogen concentration, hardness, and refractive index of the optical element, and the magnitude of the generated internal stress.

In the first stage, the film is formed for two hours,
A DLC thin film (20) having a thickness of about 4 μm was produced. The DLC film (20) in the first stage becomes a lower cladding layer of the optical integrated device. When the film quality was evaluated, the hydrogen concentration in the film was determined to be about 3 to 4 atomic% using SIMS.
Of hydrogen. Also, from the measurement of the visible-ultraviolet spectrum, the refractive index was about 1.80.

In the subsequent second stage, a film corresponding to the core was formed (FIG. 3B). One of the features of the present invention is that the optical path (22) forming the core portion is formed without particularly performing masking outside the reaction chamber. Of course, it is also possible to break the vacuum system once and form the optical path by masking using a normal resist or the like. However, it seems that the degree of cleanliness of the present invention cannot be expected.

After the completion of the film formation in the first stage, the inside of the reaction chamber is again evacuated to 5 × 10 ⁻³ Pa. At this time, the sample substrate (1)
The substrate stage (2) equipped with is located in the first reaction chamber (7) of the apparatus diagram shown in FIG. 5 × same as the pressure inside the first reaction chamber from the first reaction chamber (7) via the gate valve (8)
The second reaction chamber (14) in a high vacuum of 10 ^-3 Pa
After the substrate (1) and the substrate stage (2) have been transported, the gate valve is closed. In the second reaction chamber (14), an optical path (15) and a non-optical path (16) pattern are formed on the surface of the ground electrode (12) by a dielectric material having a different dielectric constant and a thickness of 1 mm.

The relative permittivity was set to 8.5 by using alumina in the optical path pattern (15) and to 3.8 using a quartz plate in the non-optical path pattern (16). In this embodiment, an alumina plate having a width of 5 mm and a length of 60 mm was provided at the center of the surface of the ground electrode. By providing such a local difference in dielectric constant, a local difference is generated in the capacitance between the electrodes,
Increase the radical density in the plasma at the alumina part,
The same effect as when a DC bias is applied just on the sample substrate facing the alumina occurs, the hydrogen concentration in this portion is reduced, and the hardness and the refractive index are improved.

The transferred substrate (1) and substrate stage (2) are connected to the dielectric (15) (1) on the surface of the ground electrode (12).
By opposing 6), an optical path having a high refractive index can be formed without patterning. The purpose of this core fabrication is to form an optical integrated device with no signal distortion and excellent dispersion and propagation characteristics by adjusting the bias application potential. It is reported that this can be achieved by forming a refractive index gradient that has a peak that does not exceed the cladding refractive index by more than 1%. Therefore, also in this case, the bias application potential needs to be adjusted and applied so as to form a refractive index gradient.

The basic film forming conditions are the same as in the first stage. Before the film formation, the inside of the reaction chamber (14) is evacuated to 5 × 10 ⁻³ Pa, and then the raw material gas is CH ₄ 20 ccm + H ₂ 40 c
cm (13), the reaction pressure is set to 20 Pa, high frequency power of 100 W is applied, discharge is started, and then a DC bias potential is applied. The substrate temperature was about 100 ° C. This bias application is the same as when the lower clad layer (20) was formed.
Starting from 100V, -1 at a rate of -3.6V / min
The potential is changed to 18 V, and the voltage is restored to -100 V at a rate of +3.6 V / min. Therefore, the film formation time is about 50 minutes.
A DLC thin film of about 1.9 μm was obtained in the clad portions (21) and (23). In SIMS, the hydrogen concentration in the film is the core part (2
It seems that about 3 atomic% or less is contained in 2) and about 4.3 atomic% is contained in the cladding portions (21) and (23), but it is not clear. Regarding the refractive index, when the film was formed under the same conditions and the DC bias potential was -118 V, the results were about 1.82 to 1.
Since it was 84, the refractive index at the core was used as a guide.

Here, the refractive index gradient is provided only in the film thickness direction. However, by changing the dielectric constant of the dielectric provided on the surface of the ground electrode stepwise or continuously in the plane direction, the DLC film, especially It goes without saying that the refractive index gradient in the planar direction of the core portion may be changed stepwise or continuously.

In the third stage, an upper clad layer (24) was formed (FIG. 3C). As for the formation of the upper clad layer, the substrate (1) and the substrate stage (2) are returned to the first reaction chamber (7), and a film is formed on the ground electrode (3) having a uniform potential surface. The film formation conditions are exactly the same as the film formation of the lower cladding layer (20). First, the inside of the reaction chamber (7) is 5 × 10 ^-3 P
a. Then, CH ₄ 20 ccm + H ₂ 40 c
cm was introduced (6), and it was confirmed that the reaction pressure had reached 20 Pa, and high-frequency power of 100 W was applied to start discharge. Thereafter, a DC bias voltage of −100 V is applied to the substrate holder. The potential of the substrate (1) and the substrate holder (2) becomes -280 V together with the self-bias. This state is maintained for 2 hours to form an upper cladding layer (24) of about 4 μm. The substrate temperature was also about 100 ° C.

The optical integrated device obtained as described above was evaluated. The evaluation considers that it is important to evaluate the transmittance of infrared rays in the core portion (22), that is, the leakage of infrared rays to the cladding portions (20), (21), (23), and (24). And a comparison with a bolometer revealed no leakage of infrared light except at the rear end.

[0039]

According to the present invention, it is possible to form an optical path suitable for infrared light, and it is possible to manufacture an optical integrated device for infrared light. Further, according to the present invention, DLC thin films having different refractive indices can be formed and laminated freely without breaking a vacuum system (high vacuum state) by a masking operation or the like, and an optical path of an arbitrary pattern can be formed. That is, the hydrogen concentration, refractive index, and hardness of the formed DLC thin film can be freely controlled in the film thickness direction and the plane direction. This optical path manufacturing method can be applied not only to an optical integrated element but also to a wide range of semiconductor devices.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a core part and a clad part.

FIG. 2 is a high-frequency plasma CVD apparatus used in Examples.

FIG. 3 is a manufacturing process diagram of an optical integrated device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Substrate 2 Substrate stage 3 First reaction chamber ground side electrode plate 7 First reaction chamber 8 Gate valve 9 High frequency power supply 10 DC power supply for bias application 12 Second reaction chamber ground side electrode plate 14 Second reaction chamber 6, 13 Gas introduction 5, 11 Exhaust 15 Alumina plate 16 Quartz glass plate 20 Lower cladding layer 21, 23 Low refractive index DLC layer 22 Core (high refractive index DLC layer) 24 Upper cladding layer 101 Core part 102 Cladding part

Continuation of the front page (56) References Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology A, Second Series, Vol. 9, NO. 3, Pt. 1, p. 1129-1133 (1991) Journal of Materials Research, Vol. 11, p. 2441-2444 (1990) Transactions of the Ceramic Society of Japan 98 [6], p. 597-600 (1990) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G02B 6/12-6/14 JICST file (JOIS)

Claims (10)

(57) [Claims] At least two dielectrics having first and second electrodes facing each other and having different dielectric constants are provided.
A method for producing an amorphous carbon film using a parallel plate type high frequency plasma CVD device arranged in contact with a surface of said second electrode , wherein a substrate is arranged on said first electrode, A method for producing an amorphous carbon film, comprising applying high-frequency power between two electrodes to form the amorphous carbon film on the substrate. 2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising at least two dielectrics having first and second electrodes facing each other and having different dielectric constants.
A method for producing an amorphous carbon film using a parallel plate type high frequency plasma CVD device arranged in contact with a surface of said second electrode , wherein a substrate is arranged on said first electrode, Applying an RF power between the two electrodes, further applying a DC bias such that the first electrode side is negative, and forming the amorphous carbon film on the substrate. Method of manufacturing. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first
Form another amorphous carbon film on the substrate placed on the electrode
Forming the amorphous carbon film on the other amorphous carbon film
A method for producing an amorphous carbon film. 4. It has a first, a second and a third electrode.
At least two dielectrics having different dielectric constants.
Parallel plate high-frequency plasma plate placed in contact with the surface of an electrode
This is a method for producing an amorphous carbon film using a CVD apparatus.
A substrate is arranged on the first electrode, the first and third electrodes are opposed to each other, and the first and third electrodes are
A high-frequency power is applied between the poles to form a first amorphous carbon film on the substrate, the first and second electrodes are opposed to each other, and the first and second electrodes are
High frequency power is applied between the poles to form a second amorphous carbon film on the first amorphous carbon film
The method for manufacturing a non-amorphous carbon film, characterized by. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the substrate is any one of a semiconductor substrate, a metal material substrate, and a glass substrate. 6. A method according to claim 1, wherein the substrate is an organic material substrate. 7. A method for producing an optical path for infrared light having a core portion and a clad portion, comprising a first and a second electrode facing each other, wherein at least two dielectrics having different dielectric constants are provided.
Using a parallel plate type high frequency plasma CVD apparatus arranged in contact with at least one of the second electrodes, a substrate is arranged on the first electrode, and high frequency power is applied between the first and second electrodes. Forming the amorphous carbon film on the substrate, wherein the amorphous carbon film is provided with the core portion and the clad portion in a portion corresponding to the arrangement of the dielectric. Method of making optical path for use. 8. A method of manufacturing an infrared optical path having a core portion and a cladding portion, having a first and a second electrode facing each other, different dielectric
At least two or more dielectrics having a refractive index
Parallel plate high frequency plasma CV arranged in contact with the surface of
Using a D apparatus, disposing a substrate on the first electrode, applying high-frequency power between the first and second electrodes, and further applying a DC bias such that the first electrode side is negative. Forming the amorphous carbon film on the substrate, wherein the amorphous carbon film is provided with the core portion and the clad portion in a portion corresponding to the arrangement of the dielectric. How to make an optical path. 9. The method according to claim 7, wherein the substrate is one of a semiconductor substrate, a metal material substrate and a glass substrate. 10. The method according to claim 7, wherein the substrate is an organic material substrate.