Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Gallium arsenide deep-level optical emitter for fibre optics

Nature Materials volume 2, pages 375–378 (2003)Cite this article

Abstract

Fibre-optic components fabricated on the same substrate as integrated circuits are important for future high-speed communications. One industry response has been the costly push to develop indium phosphide (InP) electronics. However, for fabrication simplicity, reliability and cost, gallium arsenide (GaAs) remains the established technology for integrated optoelectronics. Unfortunately, the GaAs bandgap wavelength (0.85 μm) is far too short for fibre optics at 1.3–1.5 μm. This has led to work on materials that have a large lattice mismatch on GaAs. Here we demonstrate the first light-emitting diode (LED) that emits at 1.5 μm fibre-optic wavelengths in GaAs using optical transitions from arsenic antisite (AsGa) deep levels. This is an enabling technology for fibre-optic components that are lattice-matched to GaAs integrated circuits. We present experimental results showing significant internal optical power (24 mW) and speed (in terahertz) from GaAs optical emitters using deep-level transitions. Finally, we present theory showing the ultimate limit to the efficiency-bandwidth product of semiconductor deep-level optical emitters.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Absorption spectrum measured at room temperature of 1 μm of GaAs grown at 225 °C.
Figure 2: Energy levels and transition rates.
Figure 3: Energy bands, current flow, and measured current–voltage characteristic for our GaAs sample.
Figure 4: Room-temperature electroluminescence.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Melloch, M.R. et al. Low-temperature grown III-V materials. Ann. Rev. Mater. Sci. 25, 547–600 ( 1995).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Melloch, M.R. et al. Molecular beam epitaxy of nonstoichiometric semiconductors and multiphase material systems. Crit. Rev. Solid State Mater. Sci. 21, 189–263 ( 1996).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Pan, J.L. Optical emission from bound states of semiconductor deep-centres. Opt. Express 9, 796–805 ( 2001).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Pan, J.L. Analytical method for finding the general optical properties of semiconductor deep centres. J. Appl. Phys. 92, 5991–6004 ( 2002).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Agrawal, G.P. & Dutta, N.K. Long Wavelength Semiconductor Lasers 225, 244–247 (Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1986).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  6. Siegman, A.E. Lasers 119, 958, 962–964 (University Science Books, Mill Valley, California, 1986).

    Google Scholar 

  7. Marcuse, D. & Lee, T.P. On approximate analytical solutions of rate equations for studying transient spectra of injection lasers. IEEE J. Quantum Electr. 19, 1397–1406 ( 1983).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Feenstra, R.M. Cross-sectional scanning tunneling microscopy of III-V semiconductor structures. Semicond. Sci. Techol. 9, 2157–2168 ( 1994).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Feenstra, R.M., Woodall, J.M. & Pettit, G.D. Observation of bulk defects by scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy: Arsenic antisites defects in GaAs. Phys. Rev. Lett. 71, 1176–1179 ( 1993).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Grandidier, B. et al. Scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy of arsenic antisites in low-temperature grown InGaAs. Appl. Phys. Lett. 74, 1439–41 ( 1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Baraff, G.A. & Schluter, M.A. Electronic aspects of the optical-absorption spectrum of the EL2 defect in GaAs. Phys. Rev. B 45, 8300–8309 ( 1992).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Faist, J. et al. Quantum cascade laser. Science 264, 553–556 ( 1994).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Faist, J. et al. Mid-infrared field-tunable intersubband electroluminescence at room temperature by photon-assisted tunneling in coupled-quantum wells. Appl. Phys. Lett. 64, 1144–1146 ( 1994).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank R. D. Grober for the use of his FTIR equipment for absorption measurements. J.L.P. was supported by National Science Foundation CAREER.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Yale University, PO Box 208284, New Haven, 06520-8284, Connecticut, USA

    Janet L. Pan, Joseph E. McManis, Thomas Osadchy, Louise Grober, Jerry M. Woodall & Peter J. Kindlmann

Authors
  1. Janet L. Pan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Joseph E. McManis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Thomas Osadchy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Louise Grober
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Jerry M. Woodall
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Peter J. Kindlmann
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Janet L. Pan.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Pan, J., McManis, J., Osadchy, T. et al. Gallium arsenide deep-level optical emitter for fibre optics. Nature Mater 2, 375–378 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat887

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat887

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing