OPTICAL WAVE-GUIDING PROPERTIES AND REFRACTIVE-INDEX ANALYSIS OF BORON-NITRIDE (BN) THIN-FILMS PREPARED BY REACTIVE ION PLATING

Thin films of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) have been prepared using a reactive ion plating process. Investigations of guiding and optical properties of films have been performed using m-line spectroscopy. Bot h ordinary and extraordinary refractive indices are, respectively, det ermined from TE and TM mode excitation. Furthermore, refractive index profile analysis using an improved inverse WKB method reveals a gradie nt-like behavior indicating an optical inhomogeneity of the deposited films along the thickness. An optical anisotropy study confirms the fi lms uniaxial nature with a birefringence, Delta n, of about 0.11. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.