The operation and performance of an InGaAs/InP uni-travelling-carrier photodiode (UTC-PD) has been studied using a
commercial device simulator. We compare the UTC-PD with conventional PIN photodiodes, focusing particularly on
evaluating the intrinsic device performance.
In this paper we model vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) that are optically pumped with circularly polarised light. This pumping scheme produces partial spin alignment of electrons since right-circular polarisation (RCP) excites spin-down electrons and left-circular polarisation excites spin-up electrons. The two spin populations are coupled through spin relaxation with a characteristic time in the order of 1-100 ps. RCP and LCP lasing emission from these populations are coupled through linear birefringence and gain anisotropy (dichroism), each with their own characteristic rates. The well-known spin-flip model (SFM) describes these processes in terms of four rate equations (one each for the complex RCP and LCP fields, one each for spin-up and spin-down electrons). For the special case when the two circularly-polarised field components have the same frequency and maintain a constant phase difference, these may be recast in terms of optical intensities, thus leading to an efficient method for numerical solution in the steady state. We have used this method to systematically investigate the influence of spin relaxation, birefringence and dichroism, and pump ellipticity on the VCSEL output. It is found that the spin relaxation time and the ellipticity of the optical pump have the strongest effect. The method can also be used to investigate the accuracy of approximate solutions of the SFM equations that have been proposed in the literature.
Hot electron light emitting and lasing semiconductor heterostructure (HELLISH) is a novel longitudinal transport, surface emitting device. The operation of the device as a light emitter and vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) has been previously demonstrated by us for the GaAs/GaAlAs material system. A basic GaInAsP/InP HELLISH structure and an advanced GaInAsP/InP HELLISH VCSEL structure are described in this work and designed for 1.5 micrometers emission. The basic HELLISH structure consists of a GaInAsP quantum well placed on the n-side of the InP p-n junction. The advanced structure has a similar active region to the basic HELLISH structure, but with a resonant cavity defined by the addition of DBRs, where the current is injected directly into the active region without having to pass through the DBRs. The modeling and design of these structures are described, including self-consisting numerical 1D solutions of the Poisson and Schrodinger equations.
Hot Electron Light Emitting and Lasing Semiconductor Heterojunction device is a novel emitter that utilizes hot carrier transport parallel to the layers of AlxGa1-xAs p-n junction containing GaAs quantum well(s) in the depletion region. Electrons and holes drifting in their respective channels are heated up temperatures well above the lattice temperature and consequently transferred in real space over the built-in potential barrier into the GaAs quantum well via phonon assisted tunneling and or thermionic emission. The recombination occurs in the quantum well. The Top Hat structure HELLISH presented in this work provides a new functionality of the device where the n and p-layers are contacted separately but are biased with the same voltage longitudinally. In this configuration hot carrier injection into the active region is further enhanced in the vicinity of the cathode due to the effective forward biasing of the junction. Therefore, the emission intensity is increased compared with the conventional HELLISH device. In the vicinity of the anode, however, there is an effective reverse biasing and in this region the top hat device acts as an absorber. As a result of these two features the device can be operate as a wavelength converter and amplifier. The intensity of the emitted light is independent of the polarity of the applied voltage. However, positions of the absorber and emitter depend on the polarity. The device may offer a wide range of light logic functions. The speed and the efficiency of the device depend on both the longitudinal and the transverse fields. A simple 2D model is developed to explain the device dynamics.
The GaInAsP/InP device described in this work consists of an InP p-n junction with a GaInAsP quantum well placed on the n- side within the depletion region. This device is designed for 1.5 micrometer emission. Light emission is independent of the applied voltage polarity, and the device acts as an XOR optical logic gate. One potential application for this device is as a low cost VCSEL for optical access networks, since two diffused-in point contacts are used for longitudinal biasing. Hence, the current is injected directly into the active region without having to pass through the Distributed Bragg Reflectors (DBRs). Experimental results concerning the temperature dependence of photoluminescence and electroluminescence spectra, and light field characteristics are compared with model calculations. These include self- consistent numerical one-dimensional solutions of the Poisson and Schrodinger equations. We also studied the emission wavelength as a function of position of the GaInAsP quantum well within the built-in electric field of the InP p-n junction. The calculated overlap of the normalized electron and hole wavefunctions is in good agreement with the experimental results.
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