Deformed Ternary Phosphides III-P for Efficient Light Control in Optoelectronic Applications

• Published in: Lasers in manufacturing and materials processing Vol. 10; no. 3; pp. 471 - 484
• Main Authors: Tarbi, A., Chtouki, T., Sellam, M. A., Benahmed, A., kouari, Y. El, Erguig, H., Migalska-Zalas, A., Goncharova, I., Taboukhat, S., Tlemçani, M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01-09-2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Absorptivity; Degeneration; Design optimization; Energy gap; Engineering; Gallium arsenide; Gallium arsenide phosphide; Industrial and Production Engineering; Machines; Manufacturing; Optical measuring instruments; Optical waveguides; Optoelectronics; Phosphorus; Processes; Refractivity; Shear deformation; Substrates; Surfaces and Interfaces; Ternary alloys; Thin Films; Valence band; Ternary phosphides; Optical sensors; Optoelectronics
• ISSN: 2196-7229; 2196-7237
• DOI: 10.1007/s40516-023-00220-x

In this study, we simulated the response of ternary phosphide materials subjected to a strain due to the lattice mismatch; the study was made by varying the concentration of phosphorus P(x). The impact of strain could provide additional opportunities to obtain the desired optoelectronic properties. This study focused on the bandgap energy, absorption coefficient, refractive index, and dielectric constant of the GaAsP and GaSbP ternary alloys grown on GaAs substrate. Shear deformation makes it possible to lift the degeneration of the valence band of the strained layers, which leads to the appearance of two sub-bands associated with light holes (lh) and heavy holes (hh). The displacement of the sub-bands generates a new and wide range of refractive indices. In the case of GaAsP/GaAs, the incorporation of P(x) causes a linear reduction in the refractive index from 3.01 to 2.59. In contrast, in GaSbP/GaAs, the refractive index initially increases, reaching a maximum of 3.24 at x = 28% phosphorus composition. However, with further increase in the phosphorus content, the refractive index decreases again and eventually converges to 2.59. The high refractive index contrast, particularly for deformed GaSbP/GaAs, can be utilized to optimize the design of optical sensors based on optical waveguides.