光电子学与光电子产业专题系列介绍 量子阱电光调制器和光开关

Quantum Well Electro-Optic Modulators and Switches

讨论了半导体量子阱中量子限制Ｓｔａｒｋ效应（ＱＣＳＥ）──垂直于量子阶层而的电场下吸收边的红移现象．由于这个效应，量子阱材料吸收边附近的光学常数受电场调制，其调制率比体村料大得多．利用吸收系数的变化可以制作光强度调制器和光开关，利用折射率的变化可以制作光相位调制器和光开关．这些器件因其工作电压低、调制率高、插入损耗小、功耗小，可以和其他光器件单片集成，在光通信和光信息处理技术中有实用价值．也讨论了半导体超晶格中Ｗａｎｎｉｅｒ－Ｓｔａｒｋ局域化效应，它引起超晶格吸收边的兰移，这一效应也可用于制作光调制器和光开关．

The quantum confined Stark effect (QCSE) in seiniconductor quantum wells, associated with the red shift of an excitonic absorption peak in an applied electric field, is disctlssed. The QCSE produces large variations of the absorption coefficent in an .applied electric field, resulting in large chal1ges in the optical coefficients. This effect should be usable in electo-optical devices such as light modulators, switches and phase sensitive devices.