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The optical modulation technique of photoreflectance (PR) has been applied to characterize the interband transitions in GaAs/AlGaAs multiple quantum wells (MQW) and modulation-doped heterojunctions at room temperature. The spectra of the MQW show ‘‘derivativelike’’ reflectance features due to allowed interband transitions from heavy and light hole subbands to conduction subbands, and the E0(Γ8,v→Γ6,c) transitions of the AlGaAs layers. Our data are consistent with a square well calculation using a conduction-band offset of 60% of the band-gap discontinuity. For modulation-doped heterojunctions, a correlation is observed between a PR feature approximately 18 meV above the GaAs fundamental gap and the presence of a two-dimensional electron gas.

The crosstalk performance of an arrayed-waveguide grating (AWG) multiplexer or demultiplexer is primarily caused by random optical phase errors introduced in the arrayed waveguides. Because the layout of waveguides on a wafer is patterned via photomask through the photolithography process, the resolution of a photomask has a direct influence on the phase errors of an AWG. This paper presents a theoretical analysis on the phase error caused by photomask resolution and other basic design parameters. Both calculation and measurement results show that a high-resolution photomask (better than 25 nm) is a critical requirement to produce low-crosstalk (less than 30 dB) AWG demultiplexers. We also investigate the effect of nonideal power distribution in the arrayed waveguides because it contributes considerable phase errors when material impurity is not well controlled during wafer fabrication. Basic criteria of power profile truncation, number of grating waveguides, and material index variation are also summarized.Index Terms-Arrayed-waveguide grating (AWG), optical crosstalk, optical phase error, planar lightwave circuits (PLCs).