| Numéro |
J. Phys. III France
Volume 4, Numéro 12, December 1994
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Page(s) | 2361 - 2370 | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/jp3:1994282 | |
J. Phys. III France 4 (1994) 2361-2370
Etched arrays of quantum well optical bistable microresonators
J. L. Oudar1, T. Rivera1, R. Kuszelewicz1 and F. Ladan21 France TELECOM, CNET-Paris B, Laboratoire de Bagneux, B.P. 107, 92225 Bagneux Cedex, France
2 CNRS - Laboratoire de Microstructures et de Microélectronique, B.P. 107, 92225 Bagneux Cedex, France
(Received 9 February 1994, accepted 12 July 1994)
Abstract
We report the operation of etched GaAs/AlGaAs multiple quantum well microresonators as low threshold all-optical bistable
devices. The studied samples are 2-dimensional arrays of cylindrical microresonators of
m height, with diameters of
m and
m. They are realized by SiCl
4 reactive ion etching of an epitaxial high finesse vertical microcavity structure. Due to the lateral carrier and light confinement,
optical bistability is observed with a strongly reduced threshold power, below 100
W for the
m diameter devices. The optical confinement allows to achieve a high cavity
Q factor in a reduced volume, and leads to the observation of multiple hysteresis loops due to the transverse mode structure
of
m diameter microresonators. The low bistability threshold, obtained without post-etching surface treatment, is attributed
to a selfpassivation occurring during the etching process, as evidenced by the observation of a thin coating film protecting
the microresonator vertical surfaces.
© Les Editions de Physique 1994