Abstract
AbstractTernary semiconductors like GaInP under certain growth conditions exhibit a (partial) chemical ordering in form of a superlattice of alternate Ga-rich and In-rich planes in (111) direction. We have performed measurements of the polarization properties of light propagating in ordered GaInP/AlGaInP quantum well waveguide structures with various amounts of strain and observed a mode conversion between transverse electric (TE) and transverse magnetic (TM) modes for light propagating along (110). Lasers built of ordered material with the cavity in this direction show a distorted polarization of the laser light which depends on ordering and strain. We show that these effects are caused by an optical birefringence due to the reduced symmetry of the ordered material which leads to a coupling of the TE and TM modes. Only a new linear combination of TE and TM modes, the “super-modes”, can propagate in the waveguide without change. Within this simple model the polarization behavior of the light in the waveguide and in lasers can be explained very well.
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