Design of semiconductor microcavity emitters and detectors for optical memory and interconnect systems

This paper presents a numerical design study of monolithically integrated microcavity detecting and emitting devices for applications in optical memory and interconnect systems. Combinations of 650 nm AlGaInP/AlGaAs resonant cavity light-emitting diodes and vertical cavity surface emitting lasers are examined. The device structures include resonant cavity p-i-n photodetectors embedded within distributed Bra,og reflector mirrors. The photodetectors consist of an undoped quantum well absorbing layer positioned at an antinode of the resonant standing wave. Classical spontaneous and stimulated emission intracavity absorption models are developed to estimate the embedded photodetector spectral responsivity. This embedded photodetector configuration provides an effective means for studying the spontaneous and stimulated emission components of microcavity light emitting devices.