Manganese sputter-etch masks for integrated optical circuits

The fabrication of integrated optical circuits, such as directional couplers, requires dielectric patterns of high resolution and edge acuity. This paper describes the application of manganese sputter-etch masks to the fabrication of these circuits. It is shown that the physical properties of manganese are well suited to mask fabrication by the lift-off technique and that optical waveguides sputter etched from glass films using these masks meet the stringent edge-roughness requirements for low-loss guidance. Manganese masks may also be suitable for other applications where high resolution and edge acuity are important.