Abstract
Direct-gap semiconductors have found numerous applications as diode lasers, light-emitting diodes and optical amplifiers. There is also an emergence of semiconductors as nonlinear optical elements. For example the nonlinear refractive coefficient n2 at 1.55 μm in AlGaAs is around 103 times larger than in silica. The second-order coefficient for optical frequency conversion is similarly enhanced over conventional materials with the current limitation being the development of suitable phase-matching techniques. One of the emerging technologies for the control of nonlinear optical coefficients is quantum well disordering,1 opening up the possibility of integrated (with laser pump) semiconductor optical parametric oscillators.
© 1999 Optical Society of America
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