Time-dependent phenomena in plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition of rugate optical films.

The plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition technique was used to produce thin-film structures with both sinusoidally and stepwise varying refractive-index profiles. The refractive index of the SiO(x)N(y) system used in the fabrication was found to be time dependent following a stepwise change in reactant gas flows or initiation of the plasma. This time dependence has been quantified using in situ ellipsometry and was found to have components with exponential and linear dependences. The time dependence of water vapor partial pressure in the system was identified as the cause of the linear dependence. Allowance for the time-dependent effects has improved the agreement between the calculated spectral response and the measured result for a broadband high-reflectance mirror consisting of an arithmetic progression of discrete layers.