Evaluation of refractive index approximations used for mode determination in multiple quantum well slab waveguides

Author

Smith, R.E. ; Molter, L.A. ; Dutta, M.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Eng., Swarthmore Coll., PA, USA

Volume

27

Issue

5

fYear

1991

fDate

5/1/1991 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1119

Lastpage

1122

Abstract

Approximations commonly used to determine the effective indexes of the guided modes of optical waveguides formed using multiple quantum well (MQW) materials are compared to the exact solutions in the slab waveguide model. Modeling the quantum well region as a single homogeneous layer with an average index of refraction is shown to produce results in close agreement with exact values of the effective index. A geometrically weighted average of the indexes provides the most accurate approximation for typical values of index and layer thickness of GaAs-Al_xGa_1-xAs quantum well waveguides

Keywords

aluminium compounds; gallium arsenide; optical waveguide theory; optical waveguides; refractive index; semiconductor quantum wells; GaAs-Al_xGa_1-xAs quantum well waveguides; geometrically weighted average; guided modes; layer thickness; mode determination; multiple quantum well slab waveguides; optical waveguides; quantum well region; refractive index approximations; single homogeneous layer; slab waveguide model; High speed optical techniques; Nonhomogeneous media; Optical bistability; Optical materials; Optical refraction; Optical variables control; Optical waveguides; Quantum well devices; Refractive index; Slabs;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9197

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/3.83363

Filename

83363