Surface micromachined tunable resonant cavity LED using wafer bonding

Gina L. Christenson; Alex T.T. D. Tran; Zuhua Zhu; Yu-Hwa Lo; Minghwei Hong; J. P. Mannaerts; Rajaram J. Bhat

doi:10.1117/12.271432

11 April 1997 Surface-micromachined tunable resonant cavity LED using wafer bonding

Gina L. Christenson, Alex T.T. D. Tran, Zuhua Zhu, Yu-Hwa Lo, Minghwei Hong, J. P. Mannaerts, Rajaram J. Bhat

Proceedings Volume 3008, Miniaturized Systems with Micro-Optics and Micromechanics II; (1997) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.271432
Event: Photonics West '97, 1997, San Jose, CA, United States

Abstract

Surface micromachining and wafer bonding techniques have been integrated to fabricate a dual-use resonant cavity tunable LED/photodetector operating at 1.5 micrometers . The device has a tuning range of 75 nm, and a spectral linewidth of 4 nm, with an extinction ratio of greater than 20 dB throughout the tuning range. The device has potential applications in WDM networks and optical interconnects due to the small physical size, beam profile, and wafer-scale fabrication and testing possibilities. A GaAs/AlAs distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) is integrated with an InGaAsP strain-compensated multiple quantum well gain medium using wafer bonding. The InGaAsP material with a central wavelength of 1.52 micrometers is grown lattice-matched on an InP substrate. After wafer bonding, the InP substrate is removed, leaving the active layers on the GaAs-based mirror and substrate. The top DBR mirror of the resonant cavity is formed using surface micromachining techniques. The mirror consists of a 4 5 pair S1/S1O₂ DBR and a T1/W support and contact layer. These materials are deposited on a sacrificial polymide layer above the InP-based gain medium. The polymide is selectively etched to release the membrane, creating an air gap between the top mirror and the epitaxial layers. When a voltage is applied between these two layers, the membrane is deflected towards the substrates, changing the Fabry-Perot cavity length, and causing a corresponding change in the resonance wavelength of the device. The device functions as a resonant cavity photodetector by reverse biasing the multiple quantum well region. The absorption bandwidth and wavelength running are identical to the emission characteristics of the same device when used as an LED.

Citation Download Citation

Gina L. Christenson, Alex T.T. D. Tran, Zuhua Zhu, Yu-Hwa Lo, Minghwei Hong, J. P. Mannaerts, and Rajaram J. Bhat "Surface-micromachined tunable resonant cavity LED using wafer bonding", Proc. SPIE 3008, Miniaturized Systems with Micro-Optics and Micromechanics II, (11 April 1997); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.271432

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available