SEMICONDUCTOR OPTICAL DEVICES AND TECHNIQUES

摘要

The disclosure is directed to improved techniques and devices employing an aluminum-bearing III-V semiconductor material and a native oxide of aluminum that is formed in the semiconductor material. In a form of the disclosure, two linear arrays of end-coupled minicavities, defined by a native oxide of an aluminum-bearing III-V semiconductor material, are arranged side by side to obtain a two dimensional array, with resultant lateral coupling between the linear arrays. The two dimensional array exhibits mode switching and multiple switching in the light power (L) versus current (I) characteristic (L-I) with increasing current. In another form of the disclosure, a stripe laser (1210) is transversely coupled (or side-coupled) with a linear array of end-coupled minicavities (1221-1275). Bistability and switching are demonstrated in the light versus current (L-I) characteristic of a native-oxide-defined structure of this type.