Abstract
Large nonlinear coefficient, possibility of integration with semiconductor lasers, and excellent control of structures make GaAs waveguides very well suited to nonlinear frequency conversion in the near-infrared. Realization of GaAs waveguide converters has been prevented until now by the problem of phase matching. Phase matching can be achieved by use of artificial birefringence present in a multilayer structure.1 However, in the GaAs/AlAs system there is not enough index contrast. Recently, a wet oxidation technique was developed2 to selectively convert AlAs into an oxide with refractive index n ≈ 1.6. We propose use of this low index oxide to enhance birefringence in a GaAs/AlAs waveguide and obtain phase matching between TE and TM modes. As a first demonstration of the huge birefringence obtainable in these structures, we have realized a single polarization waveguide, where the TM mode is well below cutoff at 1.06 μm wavelength because of a thin AlAs layer converted into oxide.
© 1996 Optical Society of America
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