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.