Surface Improvement Investigation of Sol–gel SiO2 Cladding for Waveguide Device Passivation

The sol–gel method is a well-known process for SiO2 formation on top of a semiconductor-based waveguide. This method does not require expensive equipment or SiH4 gas. However, it may result in difficulty with wet-etching, which prevents proper current injection into the semiconductor layer. We have investigated the surface condition of sol–gel SiO2 on top of Si, and have confirmed that the main causes of the anti-etching property might be due to the formation of a polymer layer after the curing process. To improve the surface condition, plasma ashing, in addition to 700 °C curing, is proposed. Regular wet etching of SiO2 layer on Si with a ratio of 1800 nm min−1 has been successfully confirmed.