ArF laser-based quantum well intermixing in InGaAs/InGaAsP heterostructures

Abstract

Radiation from a 193 nm ArF laser was investigated to modify surface properties of InGaAs/InGaAsP quantum well (QW) heterostructures and introduce defects required to enhance intermixing during the annealing process. A top 200 nm thick sacrificial layer of InP served as a reservoir for laser generated defects. The irradiation with up to 90 pulses at 65–150 mJ/cm2 allowed to generate an array of 1.2×1 mm2 sites of QW intermixed material, with bandgap energy blueshifted up to 107 nm. We discuss the mechanism and advantages of this approach for postgrowth wafer level fabrication of multibandgap QW material.

Multi section bandgap tuned superluminescent diodes fabricated by UV laser induced quantum well intermixing

“…We are proposing here an innovative use of the MSSLD design: thanks to the UV Laser Quantum Well Intermixing (UV-QWI) process developed at Université de Sherbrooke [5], a SLD consisting of several different bandgap energy sections was developed, each section being driven by a different electrode, allowing an important versatility on output spectral width and power.…”

Surface and interface study of SiO2-x coated InP/InGaAs/InGaAsP semiconductor laser microstructures processed in the soft KrF laser irradiation regime

“…indium oxides and gallium oxides, have significantly increased in the excimer laser irradiated sites. 6,8 From secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) measurements, it has been reported that on InP based QW structures, In and Ga atoms are easier to outdiffuse to the SiO 2-x layer and create V interstitials that enhance interdiffusion between barrier and well materials during RTA. 9 XPS depth profiling results also demonstrated that the total concentration of In and Ga atoms outdiffusing to the SiO 2 layer could be at around 0.5 at.…”

“…3 We have been investigating the ability of UV lasers to modify surface properties of III-V quantum well (QW) microstructures and generate defects capable of promoting the process of QW intermixing (QWI). [4][5][6] Excimer lasers are known to modify the surface chemical composition of InP-and GaAs-based QW microstructures irradiated in air and lead to a significantly enhanced interdiffusion between the well and barrier materials during high temperature rapid thermal annealing (RTA). 6-8 X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements have demonstrated that the amount of oxides, e.g.…”

Excimer laser induced quantum well intermixing: a reproducibility study of the process for fabrication of photonic integrated devices

“…Among these processes, ultraviolet laser-induced quantum well intermixing (UV-Laser-QWI) is particularly appealing due to its ability to produce selective area bandgap tuned wafers without employing contact masking and associated processing steps. In addition to pulsed IR laser QWI [19,20], both visible [21] and pulsed UV [22,23] lasers have been investigated for the intermixing and selective are bandgap engineering.…”