Method of manufacturing optical semiconductor apparatus and the apparatus
11777278 · 2023-10-03
Assignee
Inventors
Cpc classification
B82Y20/00
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B82Y40/00
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
International classification
H01S5/20
ELECTRICITY
H01S5/32
ELECTRICITY
Abstract
An apparatus is configured to operate in a single fundamental transverse mode and the apparatus includes a waveguide layer between an n-doped cladding layer and a p-doped cladding layer. The waveguide layer includes a first waveguide part, and an active layer located between the first waveguide part and the p-doped cladding layer, the active layer being asymmetrically within the waveguide layer closer to the p-doped cladding layer than the n-doped cladding layer. The refractive index of the n-doped cladding layer being equal to or larger than the p-doped cladding layer. A first end of the first waveguide part is adjacent to the n-doped cladding layer. A second end of the first waveguide part is adjacent to a first end of the active layer. A desired donor density is doped in the first waveguide part for controlling the carrier density dependent internal optical loss in the first waveguide part at high injection levels.
Claims
1. A method of manufacturing an optical semiconductor apparatus, wherein the apparatus is configured to operate in a single fundamental transverse mode of wavelength range 1400 nm to 1700 nm and the method comprises forming: a waveguide layer of a III-V quaternary compound material between an n-doped cladding layer and a p-doped cladding layer; the waveguide layer includes a first waveguide part, and a bulk active layer located between the first waveguide part and the p-doped cladding layer, the bulk active layer being asymmetrically within the waveguide layer closer to the p-doped cladding layer than to the n-doped cladding layer; a refractive index of the n-doped cladding layer being larger than the p-doped cladding layer, and the waveguide layer being configured to have a constant refractive index throughout excluding the bulk active layer; a first end of the first waveguide part is adjacent to the n-doped cladding layer; a second end of the first waveguide part is adjacent to a first end of the bulk active layer; and doping a desired donor density in the first waveguide part equal to or higher than 2*10.sup.17 cm.sup.−3 for controlling the carrier density dependent internal optical loss in the first waveguide part of the III-V quaternary compound material, wherein the apparatus is a broad-area laser.
2. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising setting the donor density N.sub.D of the first waveguide part equal to or higher than 5*10.sup.17 cm.sup.3.
3. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising setting the donor density N.sub.D so as to cause the electric drift current to be a dominant part of the injection current in the first waveguide part.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the waveguide layer includes a second waveguide part and the bulk active layer is located between the first waveguide part and the second waveguide part; a first end of the second waveguide part is adjacent to the p-doped cladding layer; a second end of the second waveguide part is adjacent to the second end of the bulk active layer; and forming the second waveguide part between the bulk active layer and the p-doped cladding layer thinner than the first waveguide part.
5. The method of claim 4, the method further comprising forming the second waveguide part the thickness of which is equal to or less than 0.3 μm.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the bulk active layer has a thickness of 50 nm.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the refractive index of the n-doped cladding layer and the refractive index of the waveguide layer at the first end of the first waveguide part differ by no more than 0.05.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the refractive index of the n-doped cladding layer, and the refractive index of the waveguide layer between the first end of the first waveguide part and the bulk active layer, differ by no more than 0.025.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the refractive indices of the n-doped cladding layer and the waveguide layer at the first end of the first waveguide part differ by a first refractive index difference between, and the refractive indices of the p-doped cladding layer and the waveguide layer at a portion thereof between the bulk active layer and the p-doped cladding layer differ by a second refractive index difference between, the first refractive index difference being smaller than the second refractive index difference.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein the refractive index of the n-doped cladding layer and the refractive index of the waveguide layer at the first end of the first waveguide part differ by no more than 0.05.
11. The method of claim 9, wherein the refractive index of the n-doped cladding layer and the refractive index of the waveguide layer at the first end of the first waveguide part differ by no more than 0.025.
12. An optical semiconductor apparatus that comprises a waveguide layer between an n-doped cladding layer and a p-doped cladding layer, wherein the apparatus is configured to operate in a single fundamental transverse mode of wavelength range 1400 nm to 1700 nm, and the waveguide layer of a III-V quaternary compound material includes a first waveguide part, and a bulk active layer located between the first waveguide part and the p-doped cladding layer, the bulk active layer being asymmetrically within the waveguide layer closer to the p-doped cladding layer than to the n-doped cladding layer; a refractive index of the n-doped cladding layer being larger than the p-doped cladding layer, and the waveguide layer being configured to have a constant refractive index throughout excluding the bulk active layer; a first end of the first waveguide part is adjacent to the n-doped cladding layer; a second end of the first waveguide part is adjacent to a first end of the bulk active layer; the first waveguide part has doping density equal to or higher than 2*10.sup.17 cm.sup.−3 for controlling the carrier density dependent internal optical loss in the first waveguide part of the III-V quaternary compound material; and the apparatus is a broad-area laser.
13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the apparatus comprises at least one of the following: InGaAsP and AlGaInAs.
14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the refractive index of the n-doped cladding layer and the refractive index of the waveguide layer at the first end of the first waveguide part differ by no more than 0.05.
15. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the refractive index of the n-doped cladding layer, and the refractive index of the waveguide layer between the first end of the first waveguide part and the bulk active layer, differ by no more than 0.025.
16. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the refractive indices of the n-doped cladding layer and the waveguide layer at the first end of the first waveguide part differ by a first refractive index difference between, and the refractive indices of the p-doped cladding layer and the waveguide layer at a portion thereof between the bulk active layer and the p-doped cladding layer differ by a second refractive index difference between, the first refractive index difference being smaller than the second refractive index difference.
17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the refractive index of the n-doped cladding layer and the refractive index of the waveguide layer at the first end of the first waveguide part differ by no more than 0.05.
18. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the refractive index of the n-doped cladding layer and the refractive index of the waveguide layer at the first end of the first waveguide part differ by no more than 0.025.
19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein a calculated fast-axis far field width is about 17 degrees Full Width at Half Maximum.
20. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the waveguide layer supports a modal intensity that is more than 3.5 times greater at a first position proximate to the bulk active layer compared to a second position proximate to the first end of the first waveguide part.
Description
LIST OF DRAWINGS
(1) In the following, the invention will be described in greater detail with reference to the embodiments and the accompanying drawings, in which
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DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
(8) The following embodiments are only examples. Although the specification may refer to “an” embodiment in several locations, this does not necessarily mean that each such reference is to the same embodiment(s), or that the feature only applies to a single embodiment. Single features of different embodiments may also be combined to provide other embodiments. Furthermore, words “comprising” and “including” should be understood as not limiting the described embodiments to consist of only those features that have been mentioned and such embodiments may contain also features/structures that have not been specifically mentioned.
(9) It should be noted that while Figures illustrate various embodiments, they are simplified diagrams that only show some structures and/or functional entities. It is apparent to a person skilled in the art that the described apparatus may also comprise other functions and structures than those described in Figures and text. It should be appreciated that some details are irrelevant to the actual invention. Therefore, they need not be discussed in more detail here.
(10) The origin of the optical losses in the semiconductor lasers and amplifiers is to a significant degree in the accumulation of charge carriers in the optical confinement layer i.e. in the waveguide at high electric currents. The effect on this charge carrier accumulation on optical losses is strong in the InGaAsP (Indium Gallium Arsenide Phosphide) and AlGaInAs (Aluminum Gallium Indium Arsenic) quaternaries, for example, for at least two reasons. Firstly, in quaternary III-V materials in the eye safe spectral region, the free-hole IVBA (Intervalence Band Absorption) cross-section, which scales the optical losses, is rather high (2-6×10.sup.−17 cm.sup.2 as opposed to 1×10.sup.−17 cm.sup.2 typical for GaAs/AlGaAs materials at ˜1 μm). Crucially, the ratio of the IVBA (free hole) cross section to the free electron absorption cross-section, which is greater than one in all III-V materials, is particularly high (almost two orders of magnitude) in the quaternary materials. Secondly, the low hole diffusion coefficients in the OCL (Optical Confinement Layer, i.e. waveguide layer) can lead to a high density of inhomogeneously distributed nonequilibrium carriers (both electrons and holes) in the OCL, which has its origin in the carrier transport through the OCL and in the carrier generation by two-photon absorption and leads to optical and recombination losses.
(11) The mechanism causing the optical losses is the dominant one in broadened laser structures with a (near-)symmetric position of the active layer. Due to the diffusion of the holes being much weaker than that of the electrons, the inhomogeneous carrier accumulation at the p-side of the OCL, between the active layer and the p-cladding, is considerably stronger than that at the n-side, between the n-cladding and the active layer. Although p-doping of the p-side of the OCL reduces the build-up of non-equilibrium carriers caused by the current flow, the effect of this on internal loss is, under all conditions and in all designs studied, not as strong as the absorption by equilibrium holes introduced by the doping itself. The net effect of p-doping on the optical properties of the laser or the like is thus always an increase in the optical losses. At moderate currents, the effect of this on the wall-plug efficiency may be overcome by the decrease in the electrical resistance with doping; however at high currents, the latter effect is rather weak.
(12)
(13) The apparatus 100 may be a laser or an optical amplifier. The laser may be an eye safe laser. The apparatus 100 operates in a single fundamental transverse mode. The apparatus 100 comprises a waveguide (optical confinement) layer 102 between an n-doped cladding layer 112 and a p-doped cladding layer 104. n-doping means that donor impurities are added to a material. Correspondingly, p-doping means that acceptor impurities are added to a material.
(14) The waveguide layer 102, in turn, includes a first waveguide (optical confinement) part 200 (n-OCL), and an active layer 108 where stimulated recombination of the electrons and holes takes place and generates optical radiation when the apparatus 100 is in operation. The active layer 108 is located between the first waveguide part 200 and the p-doped part of the OCL 208. The active layer 108 is also asymmetrically located within the waveguide layer 102 such that the active layer 108 is closer to the p-doped cladding layer 104 than the n-doped cladding layer 112.
(15) Additionally, the refractive index of the n-doped cladding layer 112 is equal to or larger than the p-doped cladding layer 104. A first end 202 of the first waveguide part 200 is adjacent to the n-doped cladding layer 112. In more detail, the first end 202 of the first waveguide part 200 may be directly adjacent to the n-doped cladding layer 112. A second end 204 of the first waveguide part 200 is adjacent to a first end 206 of the active layer 108. Correspondingly in more detail, the second end 204 of the first waveguide part 200 may be directly adjacent to a first end 206 of the active layer 108.
(16) A desired donor density is doped in the first waveguide part 200 for controlling an internal optical loss in the first waveguide part 200 because the internal optical loss is donor density dependent.
(17) The internal optical loss is caused by inhomogeneous hole accumulation in the n-doped waveguide part 200 and the hole accumulation may be reduced on basis of a suitable donor density in the n-doped waveguide part 200. Doping for the suitable donor density may, in an embodiment, be strong.
(18) The apparatus 100 shown in
(19) However even lasers or the like with an asymmetric active layer 108 position and waveguide 102 (operating at λ˜1 μm) still exhibit saturation of optical power at high injection level (see
(20) The effects of IVBA by non-equilibrium charge carriers may be weakened by n-doping of the first part of the waveguide (n-OCL) 200, which effectively removes both the charge carriers accumulated due to the transport (mainly by adding drift transport to diffusion) and those generated by the TPA (mainly by introducing additional charge carrier dissipation through recombination). As in the case of p-doping, this is to a certain degree offset, particularly at low to moderate injection levels, by some (equilibrium and, in the case of homogeneous doping, homogeneously distributed) free carriers, and hence FCA, added by the doping itself. However, inhomogeneously distributed charge carriers whose density is reduced by doping are both electrons and holes in equal quantities, whereas only electrons are introduced by n-doping. Due to the free-hole absorption cross section in InGaAsP quaternaries or the like being much stronger than the free-electron absorption cross section, the net effect, unlike the case of p-doping, is a reduction of optical loss.
(21) Thus, by doping a desired donor density in the first waveguide part 200 (n-OCL) equal to or higher than 2*10.sup.17 cm.sup.−3 can be used to control the charge carrier density dependent internal optical loss in the first waveguide part 200 (n-OCL), particularly at high injection levels (see
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(23) The carrier density profile in the waveguide 102 (n-OCL 200) can be separated into, firstly, the TPA-independent part including the spatially homogeneous background N.sub.b and the spatially inhomogeneous part ΔN.sub.j(x) caused only by current flow, and secondly, the TPA-dependent part ΔN.sub.TPA(x,z) proportional to the square of the optical power:
N(x,z)=N.sub.b+ΔN.sub.j(x)+ΔN.sub.TPA(x) (1)
(24) Consider first the carrier accumulation due to the injection current flow. The first waveguide part 200 (n-OCL) in high-power pulsed laser diodes is usually undoped or relatively weakly doped (up to the ionised donor density of N.sub.D<10.sup.17 cm.sup.−3). In such a case, under high injection level, the current in the first waveguide part 200 (n-OCL) is largely due to ambipolar diffusion. This corresponds to the carrier (electron and hole) density accumulated in the first waveguide part 200 (n-OCL) due to the current flow increasing linearly from the active layer 108 to the n-cladding interface ΔNj(x)≈(j/(2 D.sub.e))(l.sub.a−x), (see
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(26) As the doping increases, the drift component of the electric current becomes increasingly important, and at a doping level N.sub.D>5×10.sup.17 cm.sup.−3, the electric current is almost entirely due to drift. The distribution ΔN.sub.j(x) for this case can be calculated using a transcendental equation:
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where 0<x<l.sub.a.
(28) The calculated value of ΔN.sub.J(x) does exceed about 5×10.sup.16 cm.sup.2<<N.sub.D (as shown in
(29) The spatially homogeneous background N.sub.b can be estimated as:
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where τ.sub.cap is a characteristic time of a carrier capture into the active layer 108, which can be expected to remain short, due to the relatively thick (of a thickness d.sub.a=50 nm (500 Å)) bulk active layer 108; we used τ.sub.cap=0.1 ps=constant. The term N.sub.bT describes the thermal escape from the active layer 108 into the waveguide 102 (OCL) (the quasi Fermi levels of electrons and holes in the active layer 108 necessary for this calculation were obtained simultaneously with calculating the current-dependent effective threshold). Under a room temperature operation it N.sub.bT does not exceed (1-3)×10.sup.16 cm.sup.−3, though it may become dominant at elevated temperatures which are characteristic of a true continuous wave high power operation.
(31) The contributions of free-carrier absorption by the current-induced and thermally-excited carriers to the internal loss may be calculated as:
α.sub.j.sup.(FC)≈(σ.sub.e+σ.sub.h)∫.sub.0.sup.l.sup.
α.sub.T.sup.(FC)(i)≈(σ.sub.e+σ.sub.h)(Γ.sub.n-OCL+Γ.sub.p-OCL)N.sub.bT (4)
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where
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is the transverse wave vector of the waveguide mode in the waveguide layer 102 (OCL), determined by the refractive index n.sub.OCL of the layer 102 (OCL) and the effective refractive index no of the fundamental (TE) mode.
(35) The doping of the first waveguide part 200 significantly reduces the absorption even at highest current densities. The doping value N.sub.D at about a range 1×10.sup.17 cm.sup.−3 to 3×10.sup.17 cm.sup.−3 seems to sufficient to reduce the absorption significantly whereas further doping does not necessarily offer much appreciable advantage. A maximum doping value N.sub.D may thus be 3×10.sup.17 cm.sup.−3, for example. A maximum doping value N.sub.D may also be 5×10.sup.17 cm.sup.−3, for example.
(36) As already explained above, the charge carrier accumulation takes also place due to two-photon absorption (TPA) in the waveguide 102 (OCL). Namely, the InGaAsP quaternaries or the like at A 1.5 μm may have a higher two-photon absorption coefficient (β.sub.2≈6×10.sup.−8 cm/W), which may make the effect of TPA-generated charge carriers detrimental. However, also this effect, like the current induced contribution, may be reduced by n-doping the first waveguide part 200 (n-OCL). For this absorption reduction to be effective, the level of doping should be such that the recombination time of nonequilibrium minority holes is comparable to, or smaller than, the characteristic time of diffusion of those holes towards the active layer 108. This corresponds to the highly doped case, where the doping level N.sub.D is much higher than ΔN.sub.TPA, ΔN.sub.TPA being the density of nonequilibrium carriers due to TPA (equal for electrons and holes).
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(39) In an embodiment, the donor density N.sub.D of the first waveguide part 200 may have been set equal to or higher than 5*10.sup.17 cm.sup.−3 in the manufacturing phase.
(40) In an embodiment, the donor density ND of the first waveguide part 200 (n-OCL) may be set so as to cause the drift electric current to be the dominant part of the injection current. The drift electric current is caused by an electric field.
(41) In an embodiment, the waveguide layer 102 may include a second waveguide part 208, which is p-doped. The active layer 108 may then be located between the first waveguide part 200 and the second waveguide part 208 (p-OCL). Additionally, the first end 210 of the second waveguide part 208 (p-OCL) may be adjacent to the p-doped cladding layer 104. The first end 210 of the second waveguide part 208 may be directly adjacent to the p-doped cladding layer 104. In an embodiment, a barrier layer 106 may be included to form a part of the p-doped cladding layer 104 adjacent to the second waveguide part 208 (p-OCL). Furthermore, the second end 212 of the second waveguide part 208 may be adjacent to the second end 214 of the active layer 108. In an embodiment, the second end 212 of the second waveguide part 208 (p-OCL) may be directly adjacent to the second end 214 of the active layer 108. In this embodiment, the second waveguide part 208, which is thinner than the first waveguide part 200, may be formed between the active layer 108 and the p-doped cladding layer 104. A thickness of the second waveguide part 200 (p-OCL) may correspond to a distance between the active layer 108 and the n-doped cladding layer 112.
(42) In an embodiment, the thickness of the second waveguide part 208 (p-OCL) may be equal to or less than 0.5 μm, for example. In an embodiment, the thickness of the second waveguide part 208 may be equal to or less than 0.3 μm, for example.
(43) In an embodiment, the apparatus 100 may be a laser, for example. The laser may be an eye safe laser which doesn't output visible optical radiation. The laser may output infrared radiation. In an embodiment, the apparatus 100 may be on optical amplifier, for example. The optical amplifier may be used in an optical cable system based on optical fibers.
(44) In an embodiment, the apparatus 100 may comprise InGaAsP. In an embodiment, the apparatus 100 may comprise AlGaInAs. In an embodiment, the apparatus 100 may comprise InGaAsP and AlGaInAs.
(45)
(46) Even though the invention has been described above with reference to an example according to the accompanying drawings, it is clear that the invention is not restricted thereto but it can be modified in several ways within the scope of the appended claims.