Method of manufacturing an optical core

A method of depositing an optical core on a substrate in a processing chamber comprising:

• establishing a pressure of less than 100 millitorr in said processing chamber;
• generating an RF power density of greater than 3 Watts/cm2;
• and
• providing a silicon source gas, an oxygen source gas, and a dopant source gas in said processing chamber, wherein the dopant source gas increases the refractive index of said optical core above 1.46.

A substrate processing system comprising:

• a housing defining a process chamber;
• a high-density plasma generating system operatively coupled to the process chamber;
• a substrate holder configured to hold a substrate during substrate processing;
• a gas-delivery system configured to introduce gases into the process chamber, including sources for a silicon-containing gas, an oxygen-containing gas, and a dopant-containing gas;
• a pressure-control system for maintaining a selected pressure within the process chamber;
• a controller for controlling the high-density plasma generating system, the gas-delivery system, and the pressure-control system;
• and
• a memory coupled to the controller, the memory comprising a computer-readable medium having a computer-readable program embodied therein for directing operation of the substrate processing system to form an optical core a substrate, the computer-readable program including
• instructions to flow a gaseous mixture containing flows of the silicon-containing gas, the oxygen-containing gas, and the dopant-containing gas;
• instructions to maintain a pressure of less than 100 millitorr within the process chamber;
• and
• instructions to provide an RF power density greater than 3 Watts/cm2 into the process chamber, and in accordance therewith, generate a high-density plasma from the gaseous mixture and deposit a doped silicate glass optical core, wherein the dopant-containing gas increases the refractive index of said optical core above 1.46.

A computer-readable storage medium having a computer-readable program embodied therein for directing operation of a substrate processing system including a process chamber;

• a plasma generation system;
• and a gas delivery system configured to introduce gases into the process chamber, the computer-readable program including instructions for operating the substrate processing system to form an optical core on a substrate disposed in the processing chamber in accordance with the following:
• establishing a pressure of less than 100 millitorr in said processing chamber;
• generating an RF power density of greater than 3 Watts/cm2;
• and
• providing a silicon source gas, an oxygen source gas, and a dopant source gas in said processing chamber, wherein the dopant source gas increases the refractive index of said optical core above 1.46.