Theoretical and experimental study of spatial resolution in quantum-well spatial light modulators

摘要

The spatial resolution of optically addressed spatial light modulators operating in longitudinal-field Stark geometry is reduced mainly by the lateral diffusion of carriers parallel to the plane of the wells. We describe two-dimensional transport modeling within a self-consistently small amplitude approximation. An analytical expression for the carrier's spatial modulation rate is obtained and demonstrates that the spatial resolution is characterized by the velocity anisotropy. We compare our analytical model with experimental results obtained for a GaAs/AlGaAs system (devices operating at 0.8-mu m wavelength) and for a InGaAs/InGaAsP system (devices operating at 1.55-mu m wavelength). Good agreement between the theoretical and the experimental results is achieved. (C) 1998 Optical Society of America [S0740-3224(98)00610-9]. [References: 20]