Analysis of Compressively Strained GaInAsP–InP Quantum-Wire Electro-Absorption Modulators

Performance of compressively strained (CS) GaInAsP-InP quantum-wire (QWR) electro-absorption modulators (EAMs) is theoretically studied using an eight-band kldrp model. An empirical relationship is proposed for the quantum-confined Stark shift in QWR EAMs. The accuracy of this relationship is verified by comparing with numerical data. The effects of the variation of different device parameters on the absorption spectra are investigated. The absorption peaks are found to be stronger in narrower QWRs with strain-compensating barriers. Comparison of the extinction ratio with that of similar quantum-well EAMs show that, in spite of the lower in-plane filling factor, QWR EAMs exhibit a higher extinction ratio. Effect of fluctuation of wire width on the absorption spectrum of QWRs has been studied. The proposed QWR EAMs are suitable for photonic integrated circuits (PICs) fabricated by electron-beam lithography, reactive-ion etching, and two-step epitaxial growth. Due to the nature of the integration in such structures, the QWR EAMs are not required to be polarization-insensitive. On the contrary, the QWR EAMs are naturally tuned to the polarization of the output of the CS QWR lasers, fabricated on the same PIC, leading to an enhancement of the absorption strength. Moreover, the QWR EAMs, integrated with QWR lasers, offer low insertion loss.