Abstract
Fabry-Perot resonators have long been advocated1–12 as a remedy to the limited contrast ratio of quantum-well reflection modulators.13 Much work has been devoted to modeling1–4 and making such structures for normally ON5–10 and normally OFF11,12 operation. By matching the cavity at the wavelength corresponding to the OFF state, extremely high contrast ratios have been reported. Engineering such structures requires good understanding and control of the two mechanisms that contribute to the modulation of light; electroabsorption and electrorefraction. By including both these effects, we have been able to model GaAs/AlGaAs resonators for operation at any wavelength and electrical field. One important and somewhat surprising result of our calculation—in good agreement with the experimental data presented here—is the fact that the electrorefraction effect can double the reflectivity in a Fabry -Perot resonator operated near the exciton wavelength.
© 1991 Optical Society of America
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