The University of Texas at Austin is recognized as a world leader in high-performance avalanche photodetectors.[1] These types of optoelectronic devices are main components in optical local area networks, long haul communications, and optical interconnects. The basis technology supporting these devices is high-quality semiconductor structures grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The current work involves the growth of high performance resonant cavity enhanced avalanche photodetector (RCE-APD) structures with AlGaInAs/GaInAs heterostructures for long wavelength detection (1.55 m m). Recently our efforts have lead to RCE-APDs operating at 1.55 m m with a gain-bandwidth product of 290 GHz. [2] Specific aspects of this work include:

• Growth of As-based heterostructures on InP
• Study of InP as a multiplication layer for RCE-APDs
• Growth and analysis of AlInAs- and InP-based layers and structures as multiplication regions.
• Growth of GaInAs/AlInAs and GaInAs/InP-based waveguide APDs on InP
• Development of new material structures (such as GaInAsN/GaAs and quantum dots [3,4] ) for 1.3 m m APDs

This work is done in collaboration with Dr. Joe C. Campbell and Dr. Ben Streetman of the Microelectronics Research Center at UT-Austin.

[1] N. Hui, K. A. Anselm, C. Hu, S. S. Murtaza, B. G. Streetman, and J. C. Campbell, “High-speed resonant-cavity separate absorption and multiplication avalanche photodiodes with 130 GHz gain-bandwidth product,” Applied Physics Letters, vol. 70, pp. 161-3, 1997.

[2] H. Nie, C. Lenox, G. Kinsey, P. Yuan, J. A.L. Holmes, B. G. Streetman, and J. C. Campbell, “Resonant-Cavity InGaAs/InAlAs Separate Absorption, Charge, and Multiplication Avalanche Photodetectors,” presented at LEOS 11th Annual Meeting, 1-4 December 1998 1998, paper TuJ4

[3] O. Baklenov, H. Nie, K. A. Anselm, J. C. Campbell, and B. G. Streetman, “Multi-stacked quantum dot resonant-cavity photodetector operating at 1.06 mm,” Electronics Letters, vol. 34, pp. 694-5, 1998.

[4] H. Nie, O. Baklenov, P. Yuan, C. Lenox, B. G. Streetman, and J. C. Campbell, “Quantum-dot resonant-cavity separate absorption, charge, and multiplication avalanche photodiode operating at 1.06 mm,” IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, vol. 10, pp. 1009-11, 1998.