MONOLITHIC INTEGRATION OF OPTICAL STRUCTURES IN SUPERLATTICES BY MEV ION IMPLANTATION

INTEGRATED OPTICS IS THE ANALOG OF INTEGRATED ELECTRONICS IN SEMICONDUCTOR CIRCUITS USED FOR COMMUNICATIONS PURPOSES. INTEGRATED OPTICS HAS BEEN DEMONSTRATED WITH COMPONENTS THAT ARE COMBINED INTO SIMPLE HYBRID CIRCUITS, HOWEVER MONOLITHIC OPTICS HAS BEEN IMPEDED THROUGH DIFFICULTIES IN CONSTRUCTING COMPONENTS IN A SINGLE MATERIALS SYSTEM. GAAS AND ITS ALLOYS HOLD PROMISE AS CANDIDATES FOR MONOLITHIC INTEGRATED OPTICAL CIRCUITS. THESE SYSTEMS WILL INVOLVE, IN ONE FASHION OR ANOTHER, THE USE OF III-V SEMICONDUCTOR SUPERLATTICE AND MULTILAYER SYSTEMS. THE ELECTRICAL AND OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF SEMICONDUCTOR SUPERLATTICES ARE FOUND TO BE SENSITIVE TO ION BOMBARDMENT AND IMPLANTATION. THE ALTERATION OF THEIR MATERIALS PROPERTIES THROUGH THE USE OF ION BEAMS MAKES IT POSSIBLE TO MODIFY THESE STRUCTURES, THROUGHSELECTIVE MASKING SO THAT WAVE GUIDING, DEVICE ISOLATION AND DEVICE FABRICATION CAN BE ACCOMPLISHED. IT IS PROPOSED IN THIS RESEARCH PRO-GRAM THAT STUDIES BE MADE TO CORRELATE OPTICAL PROPERTY CHANGES WITH ION BOMBARDMENT IMPLANTATION, AND ANNEALING TREATMENTS.