Long-Term Reliability of Silica-Based Planar Lightwave Circuit Devices

We describe the results of accelerated lifetests performed on silica-based planar lightwave circuit (PLC) devices. Specifically, we tested PLC splitter modules in damp heat environments with different temperatures and humidities. The time-to-failure data of the splitter samples were analyzed by using the Weibull distribution, and the shape parameter was derived as 1.77. Moreover, the temperature and humidity dependence of the median life e was analyzed by using the equation and the coefficients E and n were determined to be 1.49 eV and 3.70, respectively. The thirtyyear hazard rate is estimated to be less than 40 FIT for PLC splitter modules operating at 60°C/ 40% RH.