Successful utilization of CH4/H2 RIE for the fabrication of 1.3 μm InGaAsP/InP integrated laser with butt-coupled passive waveguides

We obtained uniform and high performance for 1.3 μm InGaAsP/InP buried heterostructure (BH) integrated laser with butt-coupled waveguides using reactive ion etching (RTE) for mesa definition and low-pressure metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (LP-MOVPE) for waveguide and blocking layer regrowth. Measured average coupling efficiency between active layer and passive waveguide layer was over 91% per facet across a quarter of 2-inch InP wafer. The average threshold current and slope efficiency were 13 mA and 0.26 mW/mA of the 700 μm long integrated laser, respectively. These uniform and high performance was attributed to the uniform etching characteristics of RIE and a slight chemical etching using HBr-based solution for relief of RIE damage