| 摘要 |
PURPOSE:To enable an optical bistable element to execute an optical bistable operation of a TE wave and a TM wave without giving a special environment. CONSTITUTION:An N-type clad layer 2 and a light trapping layer 3 are made to grow on an N-type semiconductor substrate 1, and then a distortionless or a compression-distorted first active layer 4 is formed. Then, a second active layer 6 on which tensile stress is applied is formed thereon through the intermediary of a barrier layer 5. A light trapping layer 7 and other layers are successively grown, and lastly electrodes 10 and 11 are provided to the top and the bottom of the layered body concerned respectively for the formation of a bistable element. In the second active layer 6 which contains tensile distortion, positive holes are released from an energy level degenerate at a GAMMA point, an electron- heavy positive hole transition correspondent to the gain of a TE wave is relatively lessened, and an electron-light positive hole transition correspondent to the gain of a TM wave is relatively enhanced. By this setup, a bistable element of this design can carry out an optical bistable operation of a TE wave and a TM wave without preparing such a special environment that a semiconductor laser is cooled. |
