Deep reactive ion etching of silica for planar lightwave circuits using indigenously developed ECR/RIE system

Deep dry etching of silica is used for patterning of waveguides for optoelectronic applications. We report on the use of Electron Cyclotron Resonance/Reactive Ion Etching process for deep reactive ion etching of silica glass films using different fluorocarbons as etch gases. 1 by 8 splitter has been used as test structure for the optimization of the etch process. The optimized process parameters like RF/Microwave power, pressure and gas composition etc. for the above have been presented.