Selective growth of an InGaAs QW active layer in a photonic crystal optical microcavity

The use of an InGaAs quantum well as the active layer of a photonic crystal microcavity is problematic in that the perforation of the quantum well creates nonradiative recombination sites. We propose to eliminate this problem by spatially restricting the well to exist only in the photonic crystal defect region. By inhibiting growth of the quantum well in the region that will be etched during the formation of the photonic crystal, we anticipate greatly diminished nonradiative recombination. The crystal is grown by a three-step metal-organic chemical vapor deposition growth process employing nanolithographic selective area epitaxy for the quantum well active layer followed by a second lithographic layer and a dry etch process to form the photonic crystal. The quantum well is designed to luminescence between 1025 and 1050 due to growth enhancement effects created by the selective area epitaxy. The photonic crystal parameters are designed to vary the photonic bandgap over this range.