ABSTRACT
In this work, we report the development of a high-precision fabrication process for microcavity VCSELs operating at cryogenic temperatures with oxide-aperture sizes below 3 μm. To address the critical challenge of controlling oxide-aperture size during wet oxidation, a novel hybrid etch mask combining SiNx and PR was introduced, enabling vertical mesa sidewall profiles with improved reliability and process uniformity. This approach enhances the accuracy of oxide formation, crucial for scaling down VCSEL apertures while maintaining thermal and optical performance. The fabricated Cryo-VCSEL with 1.7 m aperture demonstrates exceptional output power of 3.93 mW and modulation bandwidth exceeding 50 GHz at 2.9 K, with successful PAM-4 data transmission at 112 Gbps. The process yields minimal aperture variation (~ 0.5 μm IQR) across samples, ensuring suitability for parameter extraction and VCSEL array integration. These advancements establish a scalable fabrication platform for high-speed, cryogenic VCSELs, supporting future optical interconnects in quantum computing systems.
H. Wu
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
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6B.4 – Advanced Process Development for Microcavity VCSELs
Derek Chaw, University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignH. Wu, University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignZ. Liu, University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignMilton Feng, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign -
11B.5 – Emitter Ledge Effect on Current Gain of Sub-Micron Type-II InP DHBT
Z. Liu, University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignY. He, University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignH. Wu, University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignH. Xu, Skyworks Solutions, Inc., Newbury Park, CAMilton Feng, University of Illinois, Urbana-ChampaignAbstract
In this work, the effects of emitter ledging on DC and RF performance in sub-micron InP DHBTs are investigated. We have demonstrated that incorporating a 160-nm emitter ledge leads to an over 100% increase in DC current gain (β), rising from 16 to 34. This gain increase is primarily due to the suppression of emitter peripheral surface recombination. However, increased emitter ledge also leads to a reduction in device high frequency fT and fMAX performance due to increase in device transit time and extrinsic resistance. Trade-off between enhanced beta gain and degraded RF bandwidth needs to be further studied on the emitter ledge length.
