Comparison of the limits in performance of multiple quantum well and Franz-Keldysh InGaAs/InP electroabsorption modulators

Author

Tipping, A.K. ; Parry, G. ; Claxton, P.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electron. & Electr. Eng., Univ. Coll., London, UK

Volume

136

Issue

4

fYear

1989

fDate

8/1/1989 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

205

Lastpage

208

Abstract

The use of InGaAs/InP for electro-optical intensity modulation is discussed. In multiple quantum well (MQW) materials the peak excitonic absorption α_p imposes a limit on the maximum change in intensity due to electroabsorption. For InGaAs (100 Å)/InP(100 Å), α_p is only 25% of that for GaAs/AlGaAs. This accounts for the observed modulation limit of 1.4 dB/μm, which is significantly lower than the 3.9 dB/μm for GaAs based MQWs. For comparison, the authors calculated the maximum contrast possible in bulk InGaAs and found it to be 0.7 dB/μm. It is concluded that the major benefit of using InGaAs/InP MQWs is associated with their insertion loss and not their contrast ratio

Keywords

III-V semiconductors; electro-optical devices; electroabsorption; excitons; gallium arsenide; indium compounds; optical modulation; semiconductor quantum wells; 1590 nm; 850 nm; Franz-Keldysh InGaAs/InP electroabsorption modulators; III-V semiconductor; InGaAs-InP; MQW modulator; contrast ratio; electro-optical intensity modulation; insertion loss; maximum contrast; multiple quantum well; peak excitonic absorption; performance limits;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Optoelectronics, IEE Proceedings J

Publisher

iet

ISSN

0267-3932

Type

jour

Filename

34700