Formation of AlxGa1−xAs periodic array of micro-hexagonal pillars and air holes by selective area MOVPE

Abstract A two-dimensional (2D) periodic array having air/semiconductor interfaces can be applied to photonic crystals (PCs), which are expected to control spontaneous emission and optical transports in the next-generation devices. In this paper, we report on the selective area metal-organic vapor phase epitaxial (SA-MOVPE) growth of a Al x Ga 1− x As 2D periodic array on a GaAs (1 1 1)B substrate for application to 2DPCs having GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures. Al x Ga 1− x As ( x =0, 0.25 and 0.50) growth was carried out on triangular lattice array of hexagonal GaAs openings and hexagonal SiN x masks. A uniform Al 0.50 Ga 0.50 As hexagonal pillar array and a GaAs hexagonal air-hole array with a 1 μm-period were successfully obtained. The important growth parameter for uniform 2DPC structure formation by SA-MOVPE was clarified. Furthermore, we describe the successful demonstration of a 400 nm-period pillar array and an air-hole array, which corresponds to the optical communication wavelength λ =1.3–1.55 μm. The results indicate that SA-MOVPE method is very promising for the formation of uniform semiconductor 2DPCs without the occurrence of process-induced damages.