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Investigation of Refractive Index and Optical Propagation Loss in Gallium Nitride Based Waveguides
Author(s) -
Dogheche E.,
Ruterana P.,
Nouet G.,
Omnes F.,
Gibart P.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
physica status solidi (b)
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.51
H-Index - 109
eISSN - 1521-3951
pISSN - 0370-1972
DOI - 10.1002/1521-3951(200111)228:2<429::aid-pssb429>3.0.co;2-a
Subject(s) - materials science , refractive index , optoelectronics , heterojunction , gallium nitride , epitaxy , gallium , nitride , prism , optics , layer (electronics) , composite material , physics , metallurgy
We have investigated the optical properties of Al x Ga 1— x N films by using the prism coupling technique. The refractive indices of AlGaN/AlN and AlGaN/GaN heterostructures were accurately measured as a function of the aluminum molar fraction x at 632.8 nm. Optical losses, which are very sensitive to defects content, were evaluated around 1.2 dB/cm in AlGaN/GaN and 1.8 dB/cm in AlGaN/AlN. The origin of these losses was related to the crystalline quality of epitaxial AlGaN layers and the nature of buffer layers.