Consumer applications of VCSEL arrays demand larger sizes and improved reliability. Ge-substrates are drop-in replacements for GaAs, whilst offering additional benefits. Thinner Ge-substrates are readily available due to photovoltaic supply chains, offering a cheaper cost per wafer. We report on device performance of identical 940-nm VCSELs, grown on 675µm, 500µm and 225µm thick Ge-substrates. Threshold current densities vary by less than 10μA/µm2 and 36μA/µm2 at the wafer centre between 675µm and, 500µm and 225µm respectively. A 3nm wavelength shift with decreasing substrate thickness is also observed. Results show a potential route to larger manufacturing volumes with lower cost per wafer.
Long Wavelength VCSELs and edge emitters have been grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) on GaAs substrates for applications in 3D sensing and LIDAR. Adding small amounts of nitrogen to the InGaAs QW material allows longer emission wavelengths to be achieved, but these alloys are notoriously difficult to achieve good optical material quality. Careful control of the layer structure and growth conditions of the dilute nitride active region has resulted in state of the art device characteristics at these wavelengths, which will be presented. Further optimization has been carried out to demonstrate appropriate device reliability under standard test conditions.
Long wavelength quantum dot in plane lasers have been scaled to both high volume and the larger 200mm GaAs substrates. Scaling to 300mm on a silicon platform has also been achieved. All wafers are grown on production-ready MBE platforms. Other material systems such as InGaAs and dilute nitride have been similarly scaled often by going back to first principle of process design in conjunction with substrate engineering. The main drivers for this transition to high volume are the need to integrate compound semiconductors with silicon foundries for not only data communications but other applications like automotive sensing and health care.
Emerging consumer applications of VCSEL arrays demand larger sizes and improved reliability. Significant wafer bow seen on a 150-mm GaAs-substrate wafer can impact fabrication, characterisation, and yields. It has been reported that Ge-substrates are drop-in replacements for GaAs, but also have additional benefits. We report on the spatial performance of identical 940 nm VCSELs, grown on both types of 200-mm substrate. Threshold current densities vary by 0.1μA/cm2 at the wafer centre, and a 0.78% and 0.59% decrease in centre-to-edge emission wavelengths for Ge and GaAs respectively. Results show a potential route to larger manufacturing volumes with lower costs per wafer.
The strain-induced wafer bow for VCSEL epitaxial structures grown on GaAs substrates is measured and compared to that of Ge substrates. We find that the ~ 160 μm height difference between the centre and edge of a GaAs wafer results in a significant temperature gradient and hence has a large effect on oxidation rate in the high-Al layer in the top DBR of the epi-structure. We measure a resultant centre-to-edge variation in oxidation length of ~ 3 μm for a GaAs wafer. We assess the contributions of wafer bow and epi-layer non-uniformity, as well as temperature variation in the furnace, and find that the effect of the bow dominates.
We employ a Very Quick Fabrication (VQF) method to rapidly produce oxide confined VCSELs across a 150 mm GaAs substrate wafer to assess the impact on device performance. By measuring threshold current density between 20 and 70 ℃, we find ~ 25 ℃ variation in the temperature corresponding to the alignment of the spectral peak of gain with the cavity resonance wavelength. However, we still find that the threshold current density at zero detuning, is lower for edge devices, which we attribute to material variation.
We disentangle the different contributions to device performance to isolate the effect of material variation. We compare this remaining spatial non-uniformity to that of VCSELs grown on Ge substrates.
Wafer bow/warp in high performance 940nm VCSEL epitaxial wafers has been eliminated through the use of 150 mm Ge substrates, replacing conventional GaAs substrates. Ge is a drop-in replacement for GaAs for this application and has additional benefits in that it is zero EPD and mechanically more robust. High performance 940nm VCSELs have been fabricated on Ge and compared directly with those grown on GaAs with the same structure, with no discernible difference in device performance between the two approaches. Use of Ge also provides an immediate route to 200 mm VCSEL growths as Ge is readily available at that diameter.
Ultra-thin (< 100 nm absorber thickness) GaAs cells are a promising avenue for the design of solar cells with increased radiation tolerance for space applications. To address the high transmission loss through such thin absorber layers, rigorous coupled-wave analysis and a semi-analytical waveguide model are used to investigate the effectiveness of silver/dielectric hexagonal grating structures placed on the back of a thin (86 nm) GaAs cell. The grating is formed of silver disks in a dielectric (SiNχ), and simulations indicate an optimum period of 600-700 nm with a grating thickness around 100 nm. Using the results of external quantum efficiency and light current-voltage measurements of thin devices without light-trapping features, predicted efficiencies for cells with a grating structure are found to be up to double that of the cells without light-trapping designs, showing a significant potential for current enhancement through light-trapping.
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