In part, in one aspect, the disclosure relates to a method for passivating a waveguide of an optical circuit. The method includes etching a suspended waveguide in the optical circuit; the suspended waveguide having a top surface, a bottom surface, and side surfaces; and covering the top surface and side surfaces of the suspended waveguide with a passivation coating having a thickness that ranges from between about 10 nm to about 20 nm. In one embodiment, the method further includes removing one or more coatings from a portion of the optical circuit. The disclosure also relates to various passivated optical silicon circuit embodiments.