60 nm wavelength range polarization-insensitive 1.55 μm electroabsorption modulator using tensile-strained pre-biased multiple quantum well

We studied theoretically and experimentally an InGaAs/InAlAs/InP polarization-insensitive multiple quantum well (MQW) electroabsorption (EA) modulator operating over a very wide wavelength range in 1.55 mu m wavelength region. One of the simplest possible potential-tailored quantum well, "pre-biased" quantum well (PBQW) is used to achieve wide-wavelength polarization insensitivity. PBQW is basically a rectangular quantum well with a thin barrier inserted near one edge of well. This thin barrier effectively introduces "pre-bias" to a rectangular quantum well and the same amount of Stark shift is achieved for electron-heavy hole and electron-light hole transition energies. By incorporating tensile strain into PBQW, polarization-insensitive modulation is achieved over 60 nm wavelength range, from 1510 nm to 1570 nm. This MQW-EA modulator plays an important role in wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) transmission and switching systems.