GaInAs/InP waveguide multiple-quantum-well optical modulator with 9 dB on/off ratio

Clear excitonic peak wavelength shifts are obtained with an applied electric field and large on/off ratio optical modulation of long-wavelength light propagating along the plane of GaInAs/InP multiple-quantum-well (MQW) structures grown by metalorganic molecular beam epitaxy (MOMBE). These waveguide MQW optical modulators have a modulation on/off ratio of 8:1 (9 dB) at a driving voltage as low as 5 V operating at a wavelength of 1.55 ?m. This measurement is the first step towards faster and higher extinction ratio devices.     

Refractive index of GaAs-AlAs superlattice grown by MBE

Refractive index ˉn of GaAs-AlAs superlattices grown by MBE is measured in the spectral range 1.2–1.8 eV at 300 K. Results show that for superlattices with L_B ≤ 40–50 ?, ˉn is determined by the averaged AlAs mole fraction, but that for superlattices with L_B ≥ 40–50 ?, ˉn is determined by energy separation of confined electrons and holes (E₁(e-hh)).     

High reliability planar-type GaInAs/InP heterostructure avalanchephotodiodes

High-temperature, long-term life tests of GaInAs/InP heterostructure avalanche photodiodes have been carried out to establish criteria for high reliability photodetectors in 1.55 μm-wavelength optical submarine cable systems. A failure rate of less than 0.2 FIT at 10°C was predicted for the first time with an activation energy of 0.7 eV     

Electrorefraction in GaInAs/InP multiple quantum wellheterostructures

Reports the first absolute measurement of electric-field-induced changes in refractive index in GaInAs quantum well heterostructures. Even for wavelengths as far as 40 meV below the absorption edge, excitonic effects dominate electro-optic phase modulation. This effect close to resonance yields index changes two orders of magnitude larger than in bulk material. The authors find that the size of the index change, its dependence on applied voltage, and its behaviour with wavelength are well described in terms of the quantum confined Stark effect on excitonic absorption     

V-band high-efficiency high-power AlInAs/GaInAs/InP HEMT's

The authors report on the state-of-the-art power performance of InP-based HEMTs (high electron mobility transistors) at 59 GHz. Using a 448-μm-wide HEMT with a gate length of 0.15 μm, an output power of 155 mW with a 4.9-dB gain and a power-added efficiency of 30.1% were obtained. By power-combining two of these HEMTs, an output power of 288 mW with 3.6-dB gain and a power-added efficiency of 20.4% were achieved. This is the highest output power reported with such a high efficiency for InP-based HEMTs, and is comparable to the best results reported for AlGaAs/InGaAs on GaAs pseudomorphic HEMTs at this frequency     

Flip-chip planar GaInAs/InP p-i-n photodiodes-fabrication andcharacteristics

New flip-chip planar GaInAs/InP p-i-n photodiodes have been fabricated as an array. We describe the structure of the photodiode, the design of a microlens, the fabrication processes, characteristics, and the optical fiber-coupled modules. This photodiode satisfied the requirements for a small junction capacitance and low dark current, good optical fiber coupling, and easy fabrication. We obtained a low dark current with good reproducibility by using two layer polyimide and SiN passivation films. A microlens with a 50 μm φ to 120 μm φ aperture could easily be fabricated with an InP-substrate. By electroplating, flip-chip metal bumps were directly formed on the active region of the photodiode for the first time     

High efficiency GaInAs/InP heterojunction IMPATT diodes

Heterojunction IMPATT diodes make it possible to produce new high conversion efficiency devices, combining a low bandgap semiconductor for the avalanche zone with a large bandgap material for the drift region. In this study, the heterojunction GaInAs/InP which seems particularly attractive is used in various structures. The theoretical predictions of performances are determined by a computer simulation which takes into account the main limitation effects of IMPATT diodes and the influence of particular physical phenomena due to the use of heterojunctions and semiconductors, mainly the influence of injection currents. Potential performances of the proposed structure appear very attractive especially in the millimeter-wave range using a MITATT mode (Mixed-Tunneling-Avalanche-Transit-Time) by combining tunneling current and avalanche multiplication injections.     

Small-junction-area GaInAs/InP pin photodiode with monolithicmicrolens

Reports on a back-illuminated GaInAs/InP pin photodiode with a monolithic microlens fabricated by the authors. The photodiode has both an ultrabroad bandwidth of 18 GHz and a high quantum efficiency of about 84%. It achieves this by using a small pin junction area while maintaining a large fibre alignment tolerance by incorporating an InP microlens. The photodiode capacitance was 20 fF for a junction diameter of approximately 15 μm     

A model-based comparison of AlInAs/GaInAs and InP/GaInAs HBT's: aMonte Carlo study

The high-speed performances of AlInAs/GaInAs and InP/GaInAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) are investigated using a one-dimensional self-consistent particle simulator. Optimum alloy compositions for a graded-gap base structure are obtained for both transistors through the tradeoff between the emitter-charging time and base transit time. The saturation velocity in the GaInAs n-type collector is found to be smaller than that in InP, which has been attributed to the diffusion of a large number of hot back-scattered Γ-valley electrons in the GaInAs collector. The difference in the collector transit time in p-type collectors is trivial, since the maximum electron velocity was restricted to below 1.2×10⁸ cm/s due to a strong nonparabolicity effect. The cutoff frequency for the former and the latter are estimated to be 2 and 1.5 times higher, respectively, than for AlGaAs/GaAs HBTs. These results are attributed to a larger bandgap difference between the emitter and base, to yield a high base built-in field, rather than a larger Γ-L band separation energy in the collector to enhance the velocity overshoot effect     

Fabrication of widegap-emitter Schottky-collector transistor using GaInAs/InP

A widegap-emitter transistor with a Schottky collector has been fabricated using n-InP as the emitter, p-GaInAs as the base layer and Ni as the Schottky metallisation. The fabricated transistors show a current gain better than 5 in the common-emitter configuration.     

High thermally induced index variations with short response time in InP/GalnAsP/InP waveguide Schottky diodes

Thermally induced index variations as high as 0.1 were recorded in InP/GaAsInP_1.15/InP waveguide Schottky diodes for 1 W/mm electrical power per electrode length. Pulse response characterisation showed almost 700 ns response time for 1 ms square pulses under forward biased conditions (I = 20 mA, V = 300 mV).     

Heterojunction InP/GaInAs phototransistors/bipolar transistorsgrown by MOVPE

Heterojunction InP/GaInAs phototransistors with base terminals have been fabricated by atmospheric pressure metal organic vapour phase epitaxy. When operated as bipolar transistors, the devices exhibit high current gain (>1600) and good junction ideality factors (1.06 for the base/emitter and 1.25 for the base/collector junction). When operated as phototransistors, the devices have large optical gain (>800) at an incident power of 1 μW, at a wavelength of 1.3 μm     

Excess noise design of InP/GaInAsP/GaInAs avalanche photodiodes

An InP/GaInAsP/GaInAs avalanche photodiode (APD) with separate absorption and multiplication (SAM) regions has been designed taking into account the excess noise generated in GaInAsP and GaInAs. The multiplication factor dependence of the excess noise factorFhas been calculated using realistic electron and hole ionization rates in InP, GaInAsP, and GaInAs, assuming that the avalanche multiplication occurs not only in InP but in GaInAsP and GaInAs. The calculatedFvalues have been compared to the experimental ones measured on a planar-type InP/GaInAsP/GaInAs APD for illumination at a wavelength of 1.3 μm. It has been found the the calculated excess noise agrees very well with the experimental measurements. The limited ranges of device parameters in which the conditions of minimal excess noise, tunneling current, and charge pile-up are satisfied have been obtained. We conclude that the excess noise generated in GaInAsP and GaInAs should be considered in a practical device design.     

Easily manufactured high-speed back-illuminated GaInAs/InP p-i-n photodiode

A back-illuminated planar GaInAs/InP p-i-n photodiode has been fabricated with a simple fabrication process to obtain a high-speed detector. The photodiode has a capacitance as low as 54 fF, a dark current of about 3 pA, and a quantum efficiency of 74% at a 1.55- mu m wavelength. A cutoff frequency of 31 GHz was obtained when the photocurrent was about 500 mu A and the bias voltage was -10 V.<>     

Flip-chip planar GaInAs/InP p-i-n photodiodes analysis of frequencyresponse

High-speed response, high-manufacturing-yield photodiodes will be needed for optical interconnection in computer and for broadband networks. Frequency responses of a new planar GaInAs/lnP p-i-n photodiode for flip-chip bonding are analyzed. To study changes caused by the new structure, responses are related to device parameters including photoabsorption layer thickness, p-i-n junction diameter, and the size of the forward biased p-i-n junction. Forward biasing is a peculiarity of our photodiodes. A photodiode with an optimized design showed good characteristics     

Cryogenic performance of a high-speed GaInAs/InP p-i-n photodiode

The cryogenic performance of a high-speed GaInAs/InP p-i-n photodiode, with graded bandgap layers at the heterostructure interfaces, was investigated for the first time. DC measurements show that the dark current of the diode decreases sharply as the temperature decreases from 300 to 200 K. A factor of 1000 in dark current reduction was found for this photodiode, when it was cooled from room temperature to about 150 K. Similar modulation bandwidths were found for this device for temperatures between 9 and 300 K, with a bandwidth greater than 20 GHz. No degradation was found in performance at cryogenic temperature compared to room temperature. This enables direct integration of high-speed photodiodes with superconductive and other cryogenic electronics     

High-responsivity intersubband infrared photodetector usingInGaAsP/InP superlattice

A 4-7-μm infrared detector made of an InGaAsP/InP short-period superlattice is demonstrated with materials grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). A single current blocking layer of InP is used to reduce the dark current. At 40 K, the detector shows a low dark current of less than 4 pA at a bias voltage of 4 V. At 35 K, a peak responsivity of 4.0 A/W is obtained at 5.6 μm at a bias of 1 V     

Digital integrated circuit using GaInAs/InP heterojunction bipolar transistors

A divider circuit using GaInAs/InP heterojunction bipolar transistors is reported for the first time. This is the first monolithic digital integrated circuit using these devices. The divider has been clocked at 5 GHz, which is the fastest toggle rate for a bipolar circuit on InP.<>     

Low dark-current, high gain GaInAs/InP avalanche photodetectors

High performance inverted-mesa GaInAsP/InP avalanche photodiodes responding out to 1.25 μm have been fabricated. Uniform avalanche gainsM, of 700 dark-current densities of3 times 10^{-6}A/cm²atM = 10, and an excess noise factor of ∼3 atM = 10have been achieved by placing the p-n junction in the InP and using a new passivation technique. Pulse-response rise times of less than 160 ps, limited by the rise time of the mode-locked Nd:YAG laser pulse, were measured with an avalanche gain of 40.