Surface-normal electroabsorption reflection modulators using asymmetric Fabry-Perot structures

Author

Yan, Ran-Hong ; Simes, Robert J. ; Coldren, Larry

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., California Univ., Santa Barbara, CA, USA

Volume

27

Issue

7

fYear

1991

fDate

7/1/1991 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1922

Lastpage

1931

Abstract

The authors discuss a family of surface-normal electrooptic reflection modulators using asymmetric Fabry-Perot (ASFP) structures with GaAs-AlGaAs multiple quantum wells (MQWs) as the active medium. When an optimized top mirror reflectivity ( approximately 75%) is used, a voltage swing as low as 2 V is enough to change the device reflectivity by more than 40% with a contrast ratio of 50. A comparison with various Fabry-Perot structures shows that the ASFP is the best structure in terms of its operating voltage requirement and optical bandwidth. A sensitivity analysis shows that tolerances of 2 nm in operating wavelength, 0.5 V in operating voltage, 0.3% in layer thickness control or 10 degrees C in temperature variation can be expected from ASFPs with a finesse approximately 10.<>

Keywords

III-V semiconductors; aluminium compounds; electro-optical devices; gallium arsenide; optical modulation; semiconductor quantum wells; GaAs-AlGaAs multiple quantum wells; III-V semiconductors; active medium; asymmetric Fabry-Perot structures; device reflectivity; layer thickness control; operating voltage requirement; optical bandwidth; optimized top mirror reflectivity; sensitivity analysis; surface-normal electrooptic reflection modulators; temperature variation; voltage swing; Bandwidth; Electrooptic modulators; Fabry-Perot; Low voltage; Mirrors; Optical reflection; Optical sensors; Optical surface waves; Quantum well devices; Reflectivity;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9197

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/3.83394

Filename

83394