Abstract
Currently, there exists an intensive research effort for practical optical modulators in III–V semiconductors for potential uses in optical interconnections of integrated circuits and information processing.1 One of the important considerations is low drive power, e.g., low operating voltage swing in electro-optical modulators. Waveguide devices tend to provide low drive voltages (~1 V) because the field is applied perpendicular to the light propagation direction; however, the coupling of the light into the waveguide adds complexity to practical implementations. On the other hand, although coupling is relatively easy, surface-normal devices tend to require high drive voltages ( > 10 V) because of short interaction lengths. Another important device parameter is the amount of input power that is modulated into the output power. Using a figure-of-merit, normalized electro-optic transfer function (Mv), defined as the percentage modulation of the input light per unit driven voltage to relate the transfer function of electro-optic modulators between the electrical and optical signals, previous transverse modulators have Mv values of ~8%/V, and efficient waveguide modulators have a representative value of ≤ 15%/V.1 Here we report a normally-on electroabsorptive surface-normal Fabry–Perot (FP) reflection modulator with an ~80% top mirror and an active region of 24 quantum wells to achieve a reflection change of >45% for an operating voltage swing of only ~ V, with a contrast ratio of more than 15. The wavelength range over which more than half this reflection change is observed extends as wide as 7 nm. Such devices compete effectively with low-voltage waveguide modulators, with further advantages of easy coupling and compact sizes, i.e., small capacitances.
© 1990 Optical Society of America
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