InP-membrane photonic devices

Abstract

The general objective of this presentation is to demonstrate the great potential of InP-membrane photonic devices, with a special emphasis on applications for Optical Communications. Various classes of devices will be presented, which are based on MOEMS (Micro-Opto-Electro-Mechanical) structures, or 2 dimensional (2D)photonic crystals (PC) or a combination of both, according to a '2.5-dimensional' approach, which should broaden considerably the combinations of functionality beyond those presently contemplated with the two first classes. For the MOEMS devices, the basic building block consists in a multi-air-gap/suspended-membrane structure, which can be micro-machined using multi-layered III-V semiconductor based heterostructures : tunable filters will be presented for illustration. For PC devices, the basic building block consists in an InP (and related material) membrane including a 2D PC formed by a lattice of holes : the membrane is either suspended in air or bonded onto low index material, <i>e.g.</i> silica on silicon substrate, in the prospect of heterogeneous integration with silicon based microelectronics. Examples of devices will be presented, specifically micro-lasers based on 2D PC micro-cavities as well as on 2D in plane Bloch modes (2D Distributed-Feed-Back micro-laser). For the '2.5-dimensional' photonic structures, it will be shown that the multi-layer membrane approach, where individual layers or combinations of layers may be structured across to form a 2D PC, is naturally suitable for this purpose. Examples of devices will be presented (2D PC surface emitting micro-sources, switching devices combining vertical MOEMS multi-layer membrane structures and 2D PC).