Strained layer quantum well semiconductor optical amplifiers: Polarization insensitive amplification

Abstract

Polarization insensitive optical amplification was demonstrated in newly developed semiconductor optical amplifiers that have strained GalnAsP quantum well structures. We tailored the active region of the quaternary strained layer quantum well structure with a small biaxially tensile strain of 0.2% in the well layers for polarization insensitive operation.     

金属有机化学气相外延生长1310nm偏振无关混合应变量子阱半导体光放大器研究

采用低压金属有机化学气相外延设备进行了1.3μm压应变量子阱材料、张应变量子阱材料和混合应变量子阱材料的生长研究.通过x射线双晶衍射和光致发光谱对生长材料进行测试和分析.基于四个压应变量子阱和三个张应变量子阱交替生长的混合应变量子阱（4CW3TW）结构有源区，并采用7°斜腔脊型波导结构以有效抑制腔面反射，经蒸镀减反膜后，半导体光放大器光纤光纤小信号增益达21.5dB，在1280—1340nm波长范围内偏振灵敏度小于0.6dB. 关键词： 偏振无关 应变量子阱 半导体光放大器 减反膜     

InAs QDs on InP: polarization insensitive SOA and non-radiative Auger processes

An efficient mechanical and electronic axial approximation of the strained 8 × 8 Hamiltonian is proposed for zinc-blende nanostructures with a cylindrical shape on (100) substrates. Vertically stacked InAs/InP columnar quantum dots (CQDs) for polarization insensitive semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) in telecommunications applications are studied theoretically. Non-radiative Auger processes in InAs/InP quantum dots (QDs) are also investigated. It is shown that a multiband approach is necessary in both cases.     

多量子阱光学波导中的模式截止

导出了两种材料构成的多量子阱光波导的模式截止方程，并讨论了Ｓｉ衬底上生长的应变ＧｅｘＳｉ１－ｘ／Ｓｉ多量子阱光波导的模式截止特性。     

Isolation spectra for InGaAs/GaAs strained single quantum well laser diode optical switches

The spectral dependence of gain and loss for an InGaAs/GaAs strained single quantum well laser diode were measured. High gain and high isolation at the second quantized transition wavelength can be obtained with a low injection current. A strained single quantum well structure is suitable for construction of an integrated optical matrix switch with low power consumption.     

Numerical study on optical and electrical properties of strained GaInSb/GaInAlSb mid-infrared quantum well laser

The optical and electrical properties of compressively strained GaInSb/GaInAlSb mid-infrared quantum well lasers are numerically studied solving one-dimensional Schrödinger equation using finite difference method. The simulation results demonstrate that band-mixing effects and effective mass of hole are reduced when the well is compressively strained. The strain-dependent optical and differential gains are evaluated for 0.6, 0.9, 1.21, and 1.52% compressively strained quantum well and found maximum when well is strained by 1.52%. The emission wavelength for the proposed laser can be tuned from 2.40 to 2.26 μm due to change in compressive strain from 0.60 to 1.52% at temperature 300 K. For the range of strain, the shift in wavelength is found from 2.38 to 2.24 μm at temperature 275 K. The results obtained from PSPICE simulation indicate that, the optical output power and threshold current are strongly depend on the number of wells and found to be almost constant for the number of wells three and above.     

Tensile-strained 1.3 μm InGaAs/InGaAlAs quantum well structure of high temperature characteristics

A new tensile strained InGaAs/InGaAlAs quantum well structure in the 1.3 μm wavelength region is proposed for high temperature characteristics via quantum well band structure and optical gain calculations. To obtain such features, a tensile-strained InGaAs/InGaAlAs quantum well structure, which emits light dominated by TM polarization, is considered. This proposed structure has very high temperature characteristics (T ₀ > 130 K) due to its high density of state at the first transition edge. This results clearly show the potential of tensile strained quantum well structure usage for the high temperature operation of quantum well semiconductor lasers.     

Exciton optical absorption coefficients and refractive index changes in a strained InAs/GaAs quantum wire: The effect of the magnetic field

Magnetic field induced exciton binding energy is investigated in a strained InAs/GaAs quantum wire within the framework of single band effective mass approximation. The strain contribution to the potential is determined through deformation potentials. The interband emission energy of strained InAs/GaAs wire is investigated in the influence of magnetic field with the various structural parameters. Magnetic field induced photoionization cross section of the exciton is studied. The total optical absorption and the refractive index changes as a function of normalized photon energy between the ground and the first excited state in the presence of magnetic field are analyzed. The optical absorption coefficients and the refractive index changes strongly depend on the incident optical intensity and the magnetic field. The occurred blueshift of the resonant peak due to the magnetic field will give the information about the variation of two energy levels in the quantum well wire. The optical absorption coefficients and the refractive index changes are strongly dependent on the incident optical intensity and the magnetic field.     

1.625-μm high-power strained multiple quantum well lasers for optical time-domain reflectometers

An optical output power exceeding 210 mW has been achieved using 1.625-μm strained multiple quantum well lasers at a forward current of 800 mA under pulsed operation. We introduced tensile-strained barrier layers to increase internal quantum efficiency. High quantum efficiency is attributed to improved of hole injection efficiency and suppressed electron overflow from wells. The 1.625-μm high-power lasers are expected to be applied to optical time-domain reflectometers, which enable regular communication light to be used.     

Characterization of (In,Ga)As/GaAs strained-layer multiple quantum wells with high-resolution X-ray diffraction and computer simulations

Pseudomorphic, highly strained (In,Ga)As/GaAs multiple quantum well structures were grown by molecular beam epitaxy and characterized by high-resolution X-ray diffraction. Thickness, lattice mismatch and chemical composition of the quantum wells were determined from measurements of satellite Bragg reflections and comparison with calculated rocking curves. In periodic structures, quantum wells with a width of less than 10 nm can be characterized by this technique. The results are compared with transmission electron microscopy, optical absorption and optical emission spectroscopy.     

MOVPE Growth and Fabrication of 1.3μm High Power InGaAsP-InP Polarization-Insensitive Superluminescent Diodes with Complex Strained Quantum Wells

High power polarization-insensitive InGaAsP-InP multiple quantum well (MQW) superluminescent diodes (SLD's) emitting at 1.3μm were investigated. A combination of tensile strained and compressively strained quantum wells called complex strained MQW were used in a single active layer in order to obtain polarization insensitivity. Low-pressure metalorganic chemical vapor phase epitaxy was used for crystal growth. High resolution X-ray diffraction and photoluminescence spectra showed excellent crystal quality. The SLD's were fabricated to ridge waveguide structure with 7° tilted cavity, the two facets were coated with two layers anti-reflection TiO₂/SiO₂ films, residual facet reflectivity was found to be less than 0.04%. The SLD's exhibited a up to 18.8 mW optical output power and less than 1 dB polarization dependence of output power with a less than 0.5 dB optical spectra modulation at 250 mA.     

ELECTROREFLECTANCE SPECTRA OF GexSi1-x/Si STRAINED LAYER MULTIPLE-QUANTUM WELLS

We have investigated the optical transitions above the fundamental gap of a set of Ge_xSi_1-x/Si strained layer multiple-quantum wells by electroreflectance (ER). The sam-ples were grown by molecular beam espitaxy (MBE). The thickness of the strained layer of Ge_xSi_1-x was 5nm with Ge concentration x in the range from 0.4 to 0.5, and the Si barrier layer greater than 16nm. Considering the energy shift caused by strain and quantum well confinement, we were able to clearly recognize the transitions from different quantum well structures associated with the critical points E₀, E′₀, and E₁. The transitions of the critical points E₀ and E′₀, which are very weak in bulk mateials, are apparently enhanced in the quantum well structures.     

The nonlinear optical properties of a magneto-exciton in a strained Ga_(0.2)In_(0.8)As/GaAs quantum dot

The magnetic field-dependent heavy hole excitonic states in a strained Ga0.2In0.8As/GaAs quantum dot are investigated by taking into account the anisotropy,non-parabolicity of the conduction band,and the geometrical confinement.The strained quantum dot is considered as a parabolic dot of InAs embedded in a GaAs barrier material.The dependence of the effective excitonic g-factor as a function of dot radius and the magnetic field strength is numerically measured.The interband optical transition energy as a function of geometrical confinement is computed in the presence of a magnetic field.The magnetic field-dependent oscillator strength of interband transition under the geometrical confinement is studied.The exchange enhancements as a function of dot radius are observed for various magnetic field strengths in a strained Ga0.2In0.8As/GaAs quantum dot.Heavy hole excitonic absorption spectra,the changes in refractive index,and the third-order susceptibility of third-order harmonic generation are investigated in the Ga0.2In0.8As/GaAs quantum dot.The result shows that the effect of magnetic field strength is more strongly dependent on the nonlinear optical property in a low-dimensional semiconductor system.     

Optical gain and threshold properties of strained InGaAlAs/AlGaAs quantum wells for 850-nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

The valence subband structures, optical gain spectra, transparency carrier densities, and transparency radiative current densities of different compressively strained InGaAlAs quantum wells with Al_0.3Ga_0.7As barriers are systematically investigated using a 6 × 6 k · p Hamiltonian including the heavy hole, light hole, and spin-orbit splitting bands. The results of numerical calculations show that the maximum optical gain, transparency carrier densities, transparency radiative current densities, and differential gain of InGaAlAs quantum wells can be enhanced by introducing more compressive strain in quantum wells. However, further improvement of the optical properties of InGaAlAs quantum wells becomes minimal when the compressive strain is higher than approximately 1.5%. The simulation results suggest that the compressively strained InGaAlAs quantum wells are of advantages for application in high-speed 850-nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers.     

Determination of excitonic binding energies in symmetrically strained (GaIn)As/Ga(AsP) multiple quantum wells using quantum beat spectroscopy

We have performed sub-picosecond four-wave mixing experiments on a series of symmetrically strained (GaIn)As/Ga(AsP) multiple quantum wells. We show that these measurements allow a precise determination of exciton binding energies. One of the advantages of this quantum beat method as compared to linear optical methods is that a determination of the exciton binding energy is possible even in the presence of considerable inhomogeneous broadening. In addition, the dependence of the exciton binding energy on the strain in the (GaIn)As quantum well layers suggests that the reduced electron-hole effective mass is not influenced by the increase in strain.     

Resonant Raman scattering by strained and relaxed germanium quantum dots

This paper reports on the results of resonant Raman scattering investigations of the fundamental vibrations in Ge/Si structures with strained and relaxed germanium quantum dots. Self-assembled strained Ge/Si quantum dots are grown by molecular-beam epitaxy on Si(001) substrates. An ultrathin SiO₂ layer is grown prior to the deposition of a germanium layer with the aim of forming relaxed germanium quantum dots. The use of resonant Raman scattering (selective with respect to quantum dot size) made it possible to assign unambiguously the line observed in the vicinity of 300 cm^?1 to optical phonons confined in relaxed germanium quantum dots. The influence of confinement effects and mechanical stresses on the vibrational spectra of the structures with germanium quantum dots is analyzed.     

Novel vertical stack HCMOSFET with strained SiGe/Si quantum channel

A novel vertical stack heterostructure CMOSFET is investigated, which is structured by strained SiGe/Si with a hole quantum well channel in the compressively strained Si量子信道 异质结构 CMOSFET 量子论 量子阱strained SiGe/Si, quantum well channel, heterostructure CMOSFET, poly-SiGe gateProject supported by the Preresearch from National Ministries and Commissions (Grant Nos 51408061104DZ01, 51439010904DZ0101).2/2/2006 12:00:00 AM2006-01-022006-03-16A novel vertical stack heterostructure CMOSFET is investigated, which is structured by strained SiGe/Si with a hole quantum well channel in the compressively strained Sil-xGex layer for p-MOSFET and an electron quantum well channel in the tensile strained Si layer for n-MOSFET. The device possesses several advantages including： 1） the integration of electron quantum well channel with hole quantum well channel into the same vertical layer structure; 2） the gate work function modifiability due to the introduction of poly-SiGe as a gate material; 3） better transistor matching; and 4） flexibility of layout design of CMOSFET by adopting exactly the same material lays for both n-channel and p-channel. The MEDICI simulation result shows that p-MOSFET and n-MOSFET have approximately the same matching threshold voltages. Nice performances are displayed in transfer characteristic, transconductance and cut-off frequency. In addition, its operation as an inverter confirms the CMOSFET structured device to be normal and effective in function.     

Optical absorption and refraction index change of a confined exciton in a spherical quantum dot nanostructure

Electronic energies of an exciton confined in a strained Zn_1−x Cd _x Se/ZnSe quantum dot have been computed as a function of dot radius with various Cd content. Calculations have been performed using Bessel function as an orthonormal basis for different confinement potentials of barrier height considering the internal electric field induced by the spontaneous and piezoelectric polarizations. The optical absorption coefficients and the refractive index changes between the ground state (L = 0) and the first excited state (L = 1) are investigated. It is found that the optical properties in the strained ZnCdSe/ZnSe quantum dot are strongly affected by the confinement potentials and the dot radii. The intensity of the total absorption spectra increases for the transition between higher levels. The obtained optical nonlinearity brings out the fact that it should be considered in calculating the optical properties in low dimensional semiconductors especially in quantum dots.     

Optical properties of GaN/AlN multiple quantum wells

Optical properties of GaN/AlN multiple quantum wells (MQW) have been investigated by Raman scattering, photoluminescence and photoluminescence excitation measurements. A careful examination of the Raman spectrum reveals the fact that the constituent layers of GaN/AlN MQWs are well strained. The experimental results of emission and absorption in MQWs were compared with the calculated solutions of the finite quantum well and the bound states involved in the optical transitions were identified. It is found that the interband transitions up to n=3 bound state can be observed in the strained GaN/AlN MQWs sample. The temperature dependence of the heavy-hole transitions shows an interesting phenomenon, in which the peak energy first increases with increasing temperature and then decreases with the temperature rapidly. The observation can be explained in a consistent way by the strain effects of lattice mismatch due to the interplay between the thermal expansion of GaN and AlN layers. Our results indicate that pseudomorphic GaN/AlN MQWs with good quality can be readily grown, and their applications in optoelectronics can be expected in the near future.     

Optical modes in semiconductor microtube ring resonators

We demonstrate optical modes in InGaAs/GaAs microtubes acting as optical ring resonators. Self-supporting microtubes were fabricated by optical lithography and wet-etching processes utilizing the self-rolling mechanism of strained bilayers. The optical modes were probed by the photoluminescence of InAs quantum dots embedded in the tube's wall. In this novel microtube ring resonator we find a spectrum of sharp modes. They are in very good agreement with the theoretical results for a closed thin dielectric waveguide.