AlGaInAs MOVPE selective area growth for photonic integrated circuits

We developed a generic photonic integration platform based on selective area growth (SAG) by metal organic vapor-phase epitaxy (MOVPE) of AlGaInAs/InP multiple quantum well (MQW) material. For efficient and predictive band gap engineering of photonic integrated circuits, different SAG zones of active and passive function heterostructures are precisely modeled and characterized. With the vapor-phase diffusion model, using numerical simulations of finite volumes, we extracted the three effective diffusion lengths of Al, Ga, and In species. In our growth conditions, these lengths were 32, 65, and 14 μm, respectively. The Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) equation, a classic approach to describe the growing interface profile, is used. AlGaInAs MQW properties are then simulated in terms of thickness, composition, band gap, and biaxial strain variations. Highly resolved μ-photoluminescence and optical interferometer microscopy measurements confirm the validity of the band gap and thickness variations for both bulk and MQW layers. A new diffractometer, with a submillimeter X-ray spot, was used to study the structural properties of the MQW in the center of the SAG area. As an application, we present the realization and operation of full-monolithic high-speed advanced modulation format transmitters based on novel prefixed optical phase switching by fast electro-absorption modulators.