GaAs photonic crystal slab nanocavities: Growth, fabrication, and quality factor

Creators: Sweet, J.; Richards, B. C.; Olitzky, J. D.; Hendrickson, J.; Khitrova, G.; Gibbs, H. M.; Litvinov, D.; Gerthsen, D.; Hu, D. Z.; Schaadt, D. M.; Wegener, M.; Khankhoje, U.; Scherer, A.

Abstract

In an effort to understand why short wavelength (~1000 nm) GaAs-based photonic crystal slab nanocavities have much lower quality factors (Q) than predicted (and observed in Si), many samples were grown, fabricated into nanocavities, and studied by atomic force, transmission electron, and scanning electron microscopy as well as optical spectroscopy. The top surface of the AlGaAs sacrificial layer can be rough even when the top of the slab is smooth; growth conditions are reported that reduce the AlGaAs roughness by an order of magnitude, but this had little effect on Q. The removal of the sacrificial layer by hydrogen fluoride can leave behind a residue; potassium hydroxide completely removes the residue, resulting in higher Qs.

Additional Information

© 2009 Elsevier. Received 29 July 2009; revised 1 October 2009; accepted 23 October 2009. Available online 3 November 2009. HMG and GK would particularly like to thank Art Gossard and Mark Wistey for very helpful comments and suggestions on MBE growth of AlGaAs and L.C. Andreani for useful discussions on disorder. The USA authors would like to acknowledge support (EEC- 0812072) from the National Science Foundation (NSF) through the Engineering Research Center for Integrated Access Networks (CIAN). The Tucson group also acknowledges support from NSFAtomic Molecular and Optical Physics (AMOP) and Electronics, Photonics and Device Technologies (EPDT), AFOSR, and Arizona Technology & Research Initiative Funding (TRIF). HMG thanks the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation for a Renewed Research Stay. The Caltech authors gratefully acknowledge critical support and infrastructure provided for this work by the Kavli Nanoscience Institute at Caltech. The Karlsruhe researchers acknowledge financial support from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) and the State of Baden-Wu¨rttemberg through the DFG-Center for Functional Nanostructures (CFN) within subprojects A1.4 and A2.6.

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Resource type: Journal Article
Publisher: Elsevier
Published in: Photonics and Nanostructures-Fundamentals and Applications, 8(1), 1-6, ISSN: 1569-4410.