TOTAL IN-SITU ETCHING AND REGROWTH IN AN MBE SYSTEM - APPLICATION TO BURIED HETEROSTRUCTURE LASERS

A new chlorine-based chemical beam etching technique (CBET) has been c ombined with molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) technology to prepare InP-In GaAsP buried heterostructures in a total in situ etching and regrowth process for the first time. This novel processing technology, combinin g two techniques in the same MBE growth chamber, is very attractive fo r the realization of high-performance discrete or integrated optoelect ronic devices. The different aspects of the etching process optimizati on are reviewed in the case of InP-InGaAsP heterostructures, and a fir st application to buried heterostructure laser fabrication is presente d. The results obtained for buried ridge stripe (BRS) lasers are very promising and compare favorably to the state-of-the-art lasers. This f irst device application passes a milestone in the development of this new technology and demonstrates its potential for further applications to the fabrication of optoelectronic devices.