III-V Photonic Integration Outside Telecommunications - Does InP Have A Role?
Photonic products are now appearing that make extensive use of monolithic 
integration in III-V semiconductors. Many products use GaAs-based alloys 
either because the operation wavelength is important or because the physical 
properties of such alloys result in improved performance. Integration activity 
will be reviewed and the role for InP analysed.
A universal damage induced technique for quantum well intermixing
We report a novel technique for quantum well intermixing which is simple, reliable and low cost, and appears universally applicable to a wide range of material systems. The technique involves the deposition of a thin layer of sputtered SiO2 and a subsequent high temperature anneal. The deposition process appears to generate point defects at the sample surface, leading to an enhanced intermixing rate and a commensurate reduction in the required anneal temperature. Using appropriate masking it is possible to completely suppress the intermixing process, enabling large differential band gap shifts (over 100 meV) to be obtained across a single wafer.
Suppression of bandgap shifts in GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells using strontium fluoride caps
Quantum well intermixing using dielectric caps has been studied using photoluminescence at 77 K. The structures which have been investigated, including shallow depth single quantum wells and multiquantum well waveguiding material, are highly sensitive to the presence of surface defects during annealing. Samples capped with either silicon nitride or silica have shown considerable energy shifts after processing in a rapid thermal annealer, and large energy shifts have also been found in uncapped material. Samples capped with strontium fluoride have shown negligible intermixing of the quantum wells.