Fabrication of III-V Integrated Photonic Devices

Abstract

This doctoral dissertation focuses on fabrication processes for integrated photonic devices based on III-V semiconductors. This work covers a range of III-V materials and a variety of devices. Initially, design, fabrication and optical characterization of aluminum gallium arsenide (AlGaAs) waveguides for enhanced optical nonlinear interactions was carried out. Based on our results, we proposed a new type of waveguide for AlGaAs integrated nonlinear optics. Photonic crystal nanocavities and waveguides are attractive components for integrated photonic devices, due to their control over spatial, spectral and dispersion properties of light. Fabrication process for high-Q GaAs photonic crystal nanocavities was developed. Design, fabrication and optical characterization of strip-loaded indium gallium arsenide phosphide (InGaAsP) waveguides were then carried out to demonstrate the potential of Quaternary III-V semiconductors for integrated nonlinear optics. Self-phase modulation and four-wave mixing were demonstrated in InGaAsP waveguides and nonlinear absorption was determined experimentally. Gallium nitride (GaN), due to its wide band-gap, has plethora of photonics and optoelectronics applications. First demonstration of GaN waveguides grown on (-201) b-Ga2O3 (gallium oxide) was carried out leading to an experimentally determined propagation loss of 7.5 dB/cm. In summary, this doctoral work presents repeatable and reliable micro and nanofabrication processes for III-V integrated photonic devices.