Abstract

Electroabsorptive and electrorefractive effects due to phase space filling by electron transfer into quantum well (QW) layers are suitable for the design of high speed space switches [1]. Recently, electron transfer structures (ETS) based on the InGaAsP/lnP material system have been reported in which electrons were transferred into modulation doped wells [2] and superlattices [3]. The great number of design parameters to be considered in such heterostructures necessitates a fast and reliable numerical design tool for their optimization. In this work a self-consistent finite difference simulation method is presented which simultaneously solves Poisson's equation, continuity equation and Schrödinger's equation for these nipin structures. In contrast to the previous work [1,4] this method goes beyond the space charge layer approximation and, therefore, accurately describes the electron transfer and leakage current.

© 1993 Optical Society of America