Modulation of visible light by AlAs-AlGaAs multiple-quantum-well p-i-n structures

Author

Shishkov, Milen ; Karwicki, F. ; Hasan, Zameer ; Cunningham, Jack E.

Author_Institution

Naval Air Warefare Center, Patuxent River, MD, USA

Volume

35

Issue

8

fYear

1999

fDate

8/1/1999 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1176

Lastpage

1179

Abstract

We report measurements on the modulation of visible light by a multiple-quantum-well (MQW) modulator designed for normal incidence. The MQW structure is composed of AlAs-Al_xGa_1-xAs with an Al concentration x=0.41. The structure exhibits an exciton absorption peak at 608 nm in the visible part of the spectrum. The phase and amplitude modulation properties of this structure mere studied using a Michelson interferometer that employed a novel double lock-in detection technique. Phase and amplitude modulation were studied as a function of the wavelength to determine their maxima. In our structure, phase modulation up to 200 and amplitude modulation up to 8% were observed. These values are comparable to what is typically achieved by using waveguide geometry

Keywords

III-V semiconductors; aluminium compounds; amplitude modulation; electro-optical modulation; excitons; gallium arsenide; light interferometry; p-n heterojunctions; phase modulation; quantum well devices; visible spectra; 608 nm; Al concentration; AlAs-Al_xGa_1-xAs; AlAs-AlGaAs; MQW structure; Michelson interferometer; amplitude modulation; double lock-in detection technique; exciton absorption peak; maxima; multiple-quantum-well modulator; multiple-quantum-well p-i-n structures; normal incidence; phase modulation; visible light; visible light modulation; visible spectrum; waveguide geometry; wavelength; Absorption; Amplitude modulation; Electrodes; Excitons; Geometry; Optical modulation; Optical waveguides; PIN photodiodes; Phase modulation; Quantum well devices;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9197

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/3.777217

Filename

777217