Abstract

The development of GaAs-based integrated optical circuits (IOCs) requires low-loss three-dimensional waveguides to transmit and confine the optical signal to specific locations on a chip, and also to fabricate various optical components. In this paper, we report the successful fabrication of single-mode p⁺-n⁻-n⁺ optical striplines. These striplines have exhibited low loss (a ≈1. 2 cm^-1 at 1.06 μm), and the p⁺ -n⁻ junctions have shown sharp breakdown voltages corresponding to average electric fields in the n⁻ guiding layer of 2 x 10⁵ V/cm. This suggests the feasibility of developing GaAs modulators, directional couplers and optical switches having lower loss than those reported previously.

© 1976 Optical Society of America