Ion implantation induced compositional intermixing in the InGaAs/InP MQW system for wavelength shifted waveguides

Compositional disorder and interdiffusion in lattice-matched and strained-layer InxGa1–x As/InP multiple quantum wells (MQWs), subjected to ion implantation and subsequent thermal annealing, have been studied. Measurements have shown that MQWs with compressively strained compositions are preferred for the fabrication of 1.3 and 1.55 μm integrated laser/waveguide devices. Shallow implantation induces small useable energy bandgap blue-shifts of MQWs whilst maintaining the high optical quality of waveguides. By contrast, the heavier damage of MQWs by deep implantation produces larger blue-shifts but results in considerable residual disorder.