ROOM-TEMPERATURE NORMAL-MODE COUPLING IN A SEMICONDUCTOR MICROCAVITY UTILIZING NATIVE-OXIDE ALAL GAAS MIRRORS/

A GaAs/AlAs microcavity containing six InGaAs quantum wells was grown, and the sample was then etched via chemically-assisted ion-beam etchi ng to form 50-mu m-diam cylindrical mesas, The formation of native oxi des, accomplished by baking the samples at 400 degrees C in the presen ce of a pressurized N-2/H2O Vapor line, lowered the refractive index o f the AlAs layers to 1.5. The higher refractive index contrast more ef fectively confined the intracavity held, leading to well-resolved refl ectivity dips with an exciton-polariton splitting of 6.72 nm=9.44 meV at room temperature. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.