BAND ALIGNMENT STRATEGY FOR EFFICIENT OPTICAL MODULATION IN QUANTUM-CONFINED STARK-EFFECT DEVICES

Strategies designed to optimize the performance of the multi-quantum w ell stack in optical modulator devices based on the quantum-confined S tark effect can be derived from an observation that the effective mass of the active quantum well material is significantly smaller in the c onduction band than that in the valence band. This suggests that signi ficant improvements in the overall performance of the devices may be a chieved by engineering the band alignment of quantum well and barrier to accommodate the difference in the effective masses. (C) 1997 Americ an Institute of Physics.