LNOI沉积非晶硅薄膜起泡问题研究*

doi:10.13385/j.cnki.vacuum.2026.02.03

摘要/Abstract

摘要： 刻蚀LNOI（绝缘体上铌酸锂）通常以非晶硅薄膜为掩膜;使用PECVD设备在LNOI表面沉积非晶硅薄膜时,常出现薄膜起泡现象。气泡尺寸大多在5~60 μm之间,其存在会影响LNOI刻蚀的形貌。研究表明,非晶硅薄膜气泡可能是铌酸锂薄膜表面的缺陷导致的;这些缺陷表面的氧原子与非晶硅薄膜中的氢结合,破坏Si-H键,导致薄膜局部应力增大,从而引起非晶硅薄膜起泡。通过对比实验发现,在沉积非晶硅薄膜之前,先沉积50 nm的二氧化硅薄膜以隔离铌酸锂薄膜表面缺陷,可有效解决该工艺问题。这为使用PECVD设备在LNOI表面沉积平整的非晶硅薄膜提供了参考。

关键词: 绝缘体上铌酸锂, PECVD, 非晶硅薄膜, 应力, 起泡

Abstract: Etching LNOI (lithium niobate on insulator) usually uses amorphous silicon thin film as a mask. When depositing amorphous silicon thin films onto LNOI surfaces by PECVD equipment, blistering often occurs. Such small bubbles are mostly between 5 μm and 60 μm in size, and they can affect the morphology of LNOI etching. It was found that bubbles in amorphous silicon thin films may be caused by surface defects in lithium niobate thin films. The oxygen atoms on the surface of these defects combine with hydrogen in the amorphous silicon film, breaking the Si-H bond and causing an increase in local tensile stress in the film, resulting in foaming of the amorphous silicon film. Through comparative experiments, it was found that depositing a 50 nm silicon dioxide film to isolate defects on the surface of lithium niobate film before depositing amorphous silicon film can solve this process problem. This provides a reference for depositing flat amorphous silicon thin films on LNOI surfaces using PECVD equipment.

Key words: lithium niobate on insulator, PECVD, amorphous silicon thin film, stress, bubble

中图分类号: TB43

刘民, 付刘成, 乌李瑛, 程秀兰, 付学成. LNOI沉积非晶硅薄膜起泡问题研究^*[J]. 真空, 2026, 63(2): 22-26.

LIU Min, FU Liucheng, WU Liying, CHENG Xiulan, FU Xuecheng. Research on Bubble Formation of Amorphous Silicon Thin Films Deposited on LNOI[J]. VACUUM, 2026, 63(2): 22-26.

参考文献

[1] BOES A, CORCORAN B, CHANG L, et al.Status and potential of lithium niobate on insulator (LNOI) for photonic integrated circuits[J]. Laser & Photonics Reviews, 2018, 12(4):1700256.
[2] MILLER B A D. Device requirements for optical interconnects to silicon chips[J]. Proceedings of the IEEE, 2009, 97(7): 1166-1185.
[3] SMIT M, LEIJTENS X, AMBROSIUS H, et al.An introduction to InP-based generic integration technology[J]. Semiconductor Science and Technology, 2014, 29(8): 083001.
[4] AMIRI N A, VIT D A, GORGULU K, et al.Deep photonic network platform enabling arbitrary and broadband optical functionality[J]. Nature Communications, 2024, 15(1): 1432.
[5] YAMAOKA S, DIAMANTOPOULOS N P, NISHI H, et al.Directly modulated membrane lasers with 108 GHz bandwidth on a high-thermal-conductivity silicon carbide substrate[J]. Nature Photonics, 2021, 15(1): 28-35.
[6] WU X, HAO Z Z, MA R, et al.High-efficiency second-harmonic generation in reverse-polarization dual-layer lithium niobate waveguides[J]. Optics Letters, 2024,49(21): 6141-6144.
[7] XIE Z D, BO F, LIN J T, et al.Recent development in integrated lithium niobate photonics[J]. Advances in Physics: X, 2024, 9(1):1-44.
[8] HU Y W, ZHU D, LU S Y, et al.Integrated electro-optics on thin-film lithium niobate[J]. Nature Reviews Physics, 2025, 7(5):237-254.
[9] KIM S H, KIM G, SLUSAR T, et al.Fabrication of low-loss symmetrical rib waveguides based on x-cut lithium niobate on insulator for integrated quantum photonics[J]. ETRI Journal, 2024, 46(5): 783-792.
[10] OSELLAME R. New effective technique to produce waveguides in lithium niobate on insulator (LNOI)[J/OL]. Quantum Engineering, 2019,https://doi.org/10.1002/que2.11.
[11] GU C Q, JIANG X X, LV T J, et al. Interference lithography patterned nanogratings in LiNbO₃ fabricated by dry etching[J]. Advanced Materials Research, 2014, 1049-1050: 7-10.
[12] BENCHABANE S, ROBERT L, RAUCH J, et al.Highly selective electroplated nickel mask for lithium niobate dry etching[J]. Journal of Applied Physics, 2009, 105(9): 094109.
[13] PENG X L, XIN K C, FENG Z H.Low-loss bent channel waveguides in lithium niobate thin film by proton exchange and dry etching[J]. Optical Materials Express, 2018, 8(5): 1322-1327.
[14] NICOLA D P, SUGLIANI S, MONTANARI G B, et al.Fabrication of smooth ridge optical waveguides in LiNbO₃ by ion implantation-assisted wet etching[J]. Journal of Lightwave Technology, 2013, 31(9): 1482-1487.
[15] ZHUANA R J, HE J Z, QI Y F, et al.High-Q thin film lithium niobate microrings fabricated with wet etching[J]. Advanced Materials, 2023, 35(3): 2208113.
[16] 王梦柯. 铌酸锂薄膜电光调制器关键理论与技术研究[D]. 成都: 电子科技大学, 2024.
[17] 林锦添, 高仁宏, 管江林, 等. 低损耗薄膜铌酸锂光集成器件的研究进展[J]. 人工晶体学报, 2024, 53(3): 372-394.
[18] 要彦清, 李金洋, 吴建杰, 等. 铌酸锂干法刻蚀的研究进展[J]. 微纳电子技术, 2012, 49(3): 197-207.
[19] 黄胜涛. 非晶态材料的结构和结构分析[M]. 北京: 科学出版社, 1987.
[20] 陈金龙. 聚丁烯-1超薄膜结晶及Ⅱ-Ⅰ晶型转变[D]. 郑州: 郑州大学, 2022.
[21] 杨春晖, 孙亮, 冷雪松,等. 铌酸锂晶体[M]. 北京: 科学出版社, 2009: 28.
[22] 刘恩科, 朱秉升,罗晋生. 半导体物理学[M]. 7版,北京:电子工业出版社, 2017.
[23] 汪东亮. 无机非金属材料手册[M]. 北京: 化学工业出版社, 2009: 203.
[24] 刘勇,梁利华,曲建民. 微电子器件及封装的建模与仿真[M]. 北京: 科学出版社, 2010: 87.
[25] 庞大文, 李悦, 葛培文, 等. 非晶硅薄膜应力研究[J]. 太阳能学报, 1989, 10(4): 394-399.
[26] 王剑敏. 低应力非晶硅薄膜的制备[J]. 电子测试, 2017(10): 46-48.
[27] 刘宏德, 王维维, 张中正, 等. 铌酸锂晶体的缺陷结构[J]. 人工晶体学报, 2024, 53(3): 355-371.

Metrics

Viewed

Full text

Abstract

Cited

Shared

Discussed