Parameters determining crystallinity in beta-SiC thin films prepared by catalytic chemical vapor deposition

The effects of deposition gas pressure and H-2 dilution ratio (H-2/SiH4+CH4+H-2), generally considered two of dominant parameters determining crystallinity in beta-SiC thin films prepared by catalytic chemical vapor deposition (Cat-CVD), often called hot-wire CVD method, on the films properties have been systematically studied. As deposition gas pressure increase from 40 to 1000 Pa, the crystallinity of the films is improved. From the study of H-2 dilution ratio, it is considered that H-2 plays a role as etching gas and modulating the phases in beta-SiC thin films. On the basis of the study on the parameters, nanocrystalline beta-SiC films were successfully synthesized on Si substrate at a low temperature of 300degreesC. The Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectra show formation of beta-SiC. Moreover, according to Sherrer equation, the average grain size of the films estimated is in nanometer-size. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Experimental observation of resonant modes in GaInAsP microsquare resonators

GaInAsP-InP microsquare resonators with InP pedestals are fabricated by two-step chemical etching, and obvious mode peaks are observed in the photoluminescence spectra of the resonators. The mode Q-factors about 500 are obtained for a microsquare resonator with the side length of 7 mu m. The experimental mode interval is in agreement with that predicted by the light ray method based on the cavity length, instead of that of the whispering-gallery (WG)-like modes, which has mode interval twice of that determined by the cavity length. The finite-difference time-domain simulation shows that a little asymmetry may greatly reduce the difference of the Q-factors between the WG-like modes and the other modes.

Photonic crystal point-shift nanolaser with ultimate small modal volume

A photonic crystal nanolaser consisting of only the shift of two lattice points was fabricated by HJ/Xe inductively coupled plasma etching. The room temperature lasing was observed by photopumping. The three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain calculation showed that the lasing mode has small modal volume close to (lambda/2n)(3).

Site controlling of InAs quantum wires on cleaved edges of AlGaAs/GaAs superlattices

Site-controlled InAs quantum wires were fabricated on cleaved edges of AlGaAs/GaAs superlattices (SLs) by solid source molecular beam epitaxy. The cleaved edge of AlGaAs/GaAs SLs acted as a nanopattern for selective overgrowth after selective etching. By just growing 2.0 ML InAs without high temperature degassing, site-controlled InAs quantum wires were fabricated on the cleaved edge. Furthermore, atomic force microscopy demonstrates the diffusion of In atoms is strong toward the [00 (1) over bar] direction on the (110) surface.

Silicon membrane resonant-cavity-enhanced photodetector

A Si resonant-cavity-enhanced (RCE) photodiode was fabricated on a silicon membrane. The Si membrane was formed by etching from the back side of the silicon-on-insulator substrate with the buried SiO2 layer as etch-stop layer. A gold layer was deposited serving as an electrode layer and bottom mirror of the RCE photodiode. The photodiode had an external quantum efficiency of 33.8% at the resonant wavelength of 848 nm and a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 17 nm. The responsivity was 4.6 times that of a conventional Si p-i-n photodiode with the same absorption layer thickness. (c) 2005 American Institute of Physics.

A silicon-on-insulator-based thermo-optic waveguide switch with low insertion loss and fast response

A silicon-on-insulator-based thermo-optic waveguide switch integrated with spot size converters is designed and fabricated by inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etching. The device shows good characteristics, including low, insertion loss of 8 +/- 1 dB for wavelength 1530-1580 nm and fast response times of 4.6 As for rising edge and 1.9 mu s for failing edge. The extinction ratios of the two channels are 19.1 and 18 dB, respectively.

Low power-consumption and high response frequency thermo-optic variable optical Attenuators based on silicon-on-insulator materials

A novel silicon-on-insulator thermo-optic variable optical attenuator with isolated grooves based on a multimode interference coupler principle is fabricated by the inductive coupled plasma etching technology. The maximum fibre-to-fibre insertion loss is lower than 2.2 dB, the dynamic attenuation range is from 0 to 30 dB in the wavelength range 1500-1600 nm, and the maximum power consumption is only 140 mW. The response frequency of the fabricated variable optical attenuator is about 30 kHz. Compared to the variable optical attenuator without isolated grooves, the maximum power consumption decreases more than 220 mW, and the response frequency rises are more than 20 kHz.

Research progresses of SOI optical waveguide devices and integrated optical switch matrix

SOI (silicon-on-insulator) is a new material with a lot of important performances such as large index difference, low transmission loss. Fabrication processes for SOI based optoelectronic devices are compatible with conventional IC processes. Having the potential of OEIC monolithic integration, SOI based optoelectronic devices have shown many good characteristics and become more and more attractive recently. In this paper, the recent progresses of SOI waveguide devices in our research group are presented. By highly effective numerical simulation, the single mode conditions for SOI rib waveguides with rectangular and trapezoidal cross-section were accurately investigated. Using both chemical anisotropic wet etching and plasma dry etching techniques, SOI single mode rib waveguide, MMI coupler, VOA (variable optical attenuator), 2X2 thermal-optical switch were successfully designed and fabricated. Based on these, 4X4 and 8X8 SOI optical waveguide integrated switch matrixes are demonstrated for the first time.

Thermo-optical switch matrix based on silicon-on-insulator waveguides

A thermo-optical waveguide switch matrix is designed and fabricated on silicon-on-insulator wafer. Multi-mode interferometers are used as power splitters and combiners in a Mach-Zehnder structure. Inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etching is used to fabricate the waveguides. The rise and fall times of the switch matrix are 13 mu s and 7 mu s, respectively. Switch cells have an average switching power consumption of 340 mW.

Fabrication of arrayed waveguide grating based on SOI material

An arrayed waveguide grating based on SOI material was fabricated by inductive coupled plasma (ICP) etching technology. The central wavelength of the device was designed at 1.5509 mu m and the channel spacing was 200 GHz. Comparing with the values of the design, the differences of the central wavelength and the channel spacing in the test were 0.28 nm and 0.02 nm, respectively. The adjacent channel crosstalk was about 10 dB, and the uniformity of the five channels' insertion loss was only 0.7 dB. The results show that the device can be used as a demultiplexer.

High-temperature electron-hole liquid and dynamics of Fermi excitons in a In0.65Al0.35As/Al0.4Ga0.6As quantum dot array

State-filling effects of the exciton in a In0.65Al0.35As/Al0.4Ga0.6As quantum dot array are observed by quantum dot array photolumineseence at a sample temperature of 77 K. The exciton emission at low excitation density is dominated by the radiative recombination of the states in the s shell and at high excitation density the emission mainly results from the radiative recombination of the exciton state in the p shell. The spectral interval between the states in the s and p shells is about 30-40 mcV. The time resolved photoluminescence shows that the decay time of exciton states in the p shell is longer than that of exciton states in the s shell, and the emission intensity of the exciton state in the p shell is superlinearly dependent on excitation density. Furthermore, electron-hole liquid in the quantum dot array is observed at 77 K, which is a much higher temperature than that in bulk. The emission peak of the. recombination, of electron-hole liquid has an about 200 meV redshift from the exciton fluorescence. Two excitation density-dependent emission peaks at 1.56 and 1.59 eV are observed, respectively, which result from quantum confinement effects in QDs. The emission intensity of electron-hole liquid is directly proportional to the cubic of excitation densities and its decay time decreases significantly at the high excitation density.

Research on improved methods of reduction of bend loss of silicon-on-insulator waveguides

Improved methods of reduction of bend loss of silicon-on-insulator waveguides were simulated and analyzed by means of effective index method (EIM) and two dimensional beam propagation method (2D-BPM). The simulation results indicate that two different methods, one of which are introducing an offset at the junction of two waveguides and the other is etching groove at the outside of bend waveguide, can decrease bend loss. And the later one is more effective. Meanwhile, experiments validate them. By etching groove, the insertion loss of bend waveguide of R = 16mm, transverse displacement 70mum was decreased 5dB. And its bend loss was almost eliminated.

1.55 mu m spot-size converter with monolithically integrated laser diode by conventional process

A novel 1.55 mum laser diode (LD) with monolithically integrated spot-size converter (SSC) is designed and fabricated using conventional photolithography and the chemical wet etching process. For the laser diode, a ridge double-core structure is employed. For the spot-size converter, a buried double-waveguide structure is incorporated. The laterally tapered active core is designed and optically combined with the thin passive core to control the size of the mode. The threshold current was measured to be 40 mA together with high slope efficiency of 0.35 W A(-1). The beam divergence angles in the horizontal and vertical directions were as small as 14.9degrees and 18.2degrees, respectively.

Thermally tunable optical filter with crystalline silicon as cavity

A novel method to fabricate a thermally tunable filter with a tuning range of 26 nm from 1.504 to 1.530 mum is reported. The high-reffectivity bottom mirror is deposited in the hole formed by anisotropically etching in the basic solution from the backside of the slice with the buried SiO2 layer in silicon-on-insulator substrate as the etching-stop layer. Because of the formation of the mesa and the removing of the substrate of the hole, the power from the metal heater can be more effectively consumed in the crystalline silicon cavity. So it lowers the power consumption and the filter has a higher tuning range. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Ridge waveguide laser integrated with spot-size converter in a single step epitaxial for high coupling efficiency to single-mode fibres

A 1.55-mum laser diode integrated with a spot-size converter was fabricated in a single step epitaxial by using the conventional photolithography and chemical wet etching process. The device was constructed by a conventional ridge waveguide active layer and a larger passive ridge-waveguide layer. The threshold current was 40 mA together with high slope efficiency of 0.24 W/A. The beam divergence angles in the horizontal and vertical directions were as small as 12.0degrees x 15.0degrees, respectively, resulting in about 3.2-dB coupling losses with a cleaved optical fibre.