Single-mode GaAs/AlGaAs W waveguides with a low propagation loss

Abstract

We have designed a low-loss single-mode GaAs/AlGaAs optical waveguide with a symmetric five-layer heterostructure at the 1.31-μm wavelength by use of an effective-index method. Waveguides with a W-shaped refractive-index profile have been grown by use of a metallo-organic chemical vapor deposition technique and fabricated with a chemical wet-etching method. Propagation loss has been measured by use of the Fabry？Perot resonance method and a sequential-cleaving experiment. The measured loss is as low as 0.19 dB@cm for waveguides with 2.3-μm thickness and 4.3-μm width, which is comparable to the lowest-loss semiconductor waveguides yet reported. These waveguides could be used to make low-loss modulators for guided-wave devices. ？ 1996 Optical Society of America.