HVPE growth and characterization of GaP on different substrates and patterned templates for frequency conversion devices

Abstract

This article describes efforts to achieve fast deposition of thick Quasi-Phase-Matched (QPM) GaP structures with high surface and structural quality on oriented patterned (OP) templates in a Hydride Vapor Phase Epitaxial (HVPE) process. These QPM structures will be incorporated in devices for conversion of frequencies from the near infrared to the mid infrared and THz regions, where powerful and tunable sources are in great demand for both military and civilian applications. In contrast with GaAs - the most studied OP QPM material - the two-photon absorption of GaP is predicted to be extremely low, which allows pumping with a number of convenient sources between 1 – 1.7 μm. Unpatterned GaP layers up to 370 μm thick were grown with growth rates up to 93 μm/hr with high reproducibility on bare substrates. The layers demonstrated smooth surface morphology with RMS < 1 nm and high structural quality with FWHM equal to 39 arcsec for layers grown on GaP and 112 arcsec for those grown on GaAs. Growth on OP-GaP templates resulted in 142 μm thick QPM structures deposited at a growth rate of 71 μm/h with good vertical (normal to the layer surface) propagation of the initial pattern. When the growth was performed on OP-GaAs one of the domains showed a trend toward a faceting growth. Further investigations are in progress to equalize the vertical and lateral growth of the two domains, and determine the best orientation of the substrate and pattern in order to achieve structures thick enough for high power nonlinear applications.

Keywords

• hydride vapor phase epitaxy
• nonlinear optical materials
• quasi-phase matching
• frequency conversion devices