The Emergence of an Amorphous-Silicon Based Photonic Technology; Optical Memories to 3-D Photonic Crystals

Abstract

ABSTRACTAmorphous silicon is an ideal system for optical engineering since its optical properties can drastically be changed through its ability to absorb such impurities as hydrogen whose contents range from zero to beyond twenty percent. In this work we report light-induced changes in its optical properties which may add potential in active optical engineering. Considerable changes in the phases in reflected polarized lights from transparent-substrate side of amorphous silicon films are observed both after prolonged illumination of intense light at the light-soaking temperature range from 40 to 250 °C. Most of the changes are localized to amorphous silicon region near substrate-film interfaces. Illumination time dependencies and annealing characteristics are examined, and physics behind these observed changes are discussed.