Growth and electro-optical characterization of ZnMgTe/ZnTe waveguide by molecular beam epitaxy

ZnMgTe/ZnTe/ZnMgTe thin film waveguide with high crystal quality were grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The in-plane mismatch between the ZnMgTe cladding layers and ZnTe core layer was about 0.02% which was measured by X-ray reciprocal space mapping (RSM). It indicated that films were grown coherently with high crystal quality. The Electro-Optical characterization of waveguide was evaluated using 1.55μm polarized lights and bias applied on the waveguide device from -15 V to +15 V. The de-pendence of light phase shift passed though the waveguide on the applied voltage bias was studied. The electro-optical characterization of the waveguide device was about 7% of the theoretical calculation. It could be improved by increasing the resistance ratio between the ZnMgTe/ZnTe/ZnMgTe waveguide structure and substrate so that the electric field applied on the waveguide structure could be improved. It was indicated that the ZnMgTe/ZnTe/ZnMgTe thin film waveguide has the potential to become a high efficiency electro-optical device.