Native-Oxide-Defined Semiconductor Quantum Well Lasers and OptoelectronicDevices: A1-Based III-V Native Oxides

摘要

At atmosphertic conditions high Al composition Al(x)Ga(1-x)As (x > 0.7) in AlGaAs-GaAs heterostructuresis subject to failure via hydrolyzation. In contrast, 'wet' oxidation at higher temperatures (>or= 400 C) produces stable AlGaAs native oxides (Urbana, 1990) that prove to be useful in quantum well heterostructure devices. The 'wet' oxidation process results in the conversion of high Al composition heterostructure material into a stable low refractive index, current blocking native oxide that can be used to define optical cavities and current paths. The oxidation can be used to passivate exposed Al-bearing surfaces. Its selective, anisotropic nature is also useful for the fabrication of both planar and non-planar devices, including buried oxide beterostructures. The III-V native oxide has been used in the fabrication of single stripe and stripe array lasers, ring lasers, coupled cavity lasers, edge defined buried oxide lasers, buried oxide window lasers, buried oxide vertical cavity lasers, deep oxide waveguides, deep-oxide lasers, and high reliability LED's. Also, the native oxide of AlAs has been demonstrated in field effect transistor operation. The use of the III-V native oxide in various device applications has been pioneered in this project.