Use of the AlGaAs native oxide in AlGaAs-GaAs quantum well heterostructure laser devices

Conference · Sun Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1995

OSTI ID:437558

Ries, M J; Chen, E I; Holonyak, Jr, Chen N ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Illinois, Urbana, IL (United States); and others

At atmospheric conditions high Al Composition Al{sub x}Ga{sub 1-x}As (x {ge}0.7) in Al{sub x}Ga{sub 1-x}As-GaAs heterostructures is subject to failure via hydrolyzation. In contrast, {open_quotes}wet{close_quotes} oxidation at higher temperatures ({ge}400{degrees}C) produces stable AlGaAs native oxides that prove to be useful in quantum well heterostructure devices. The {open_quotes}wet{close_quotes} oxidation process results in the conversion of high Al composition heterostructure material into a stable low refractive index, current-blocking native oxide, which can be used to define cavities and current paths. The oxidation can be used to passivate exposed Al-bearing surfaces. Its selective, anisotropic nature is also useful for the fabrication of both planar and non-planar devices, including buried-oxide heterostructures. The III-V native oxide has been used in the fabrication of single-stripe and stripe array lasers, ring lasers, coupled-cavity lasers, buried-oxide verticle cavity lasers, deep-oxide waveguides, deep-oxide lasers, and high reliability LED`s. Also, the native oxide of A1As has been demonstrated in field effect transistor operation. The use of the III-V native oxide in various device applications is described.

• OSTI ID: 437558
• Report Number(s): CONF-9509141--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

40 CHEMISTRY
42 ENGINEERING
66 PHYSICS
ALUMINIUM COMPOUNDS
DESIGN
GALLIUM ARSENIDES
OXIDATION
SEMICONDUCTOR LASERS