Josip Vukusic

Comparison of optical VCSEL models on the simulation of oxide-confined devices

We compare the results of different optical vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser models on the position-dependent effects of thin oxide apertures. Both scalar and vectorial models as well as hybrid models are considered. Physical quantities that are compared are resonance wavelength, threshold material gain, and modal stability. For large device diameters and low-order modes, the agreement between the different models is quite good. Larger differences occur when considering smaller devices and higher order modes. It is also observed that the spread in the resonance wavelengths is smaller than that for the threshold material gain.

A Subharmonic Graphene FET Mixer

We demonstrate a subharmonic resistive graphene FET mixer utilizing the symmetrical channel-resistance versus gate-voltage characteristic. A down-conversion loss of 24 dB is obtained with fRF = 2 GHz, fLO= 1.01 GHz, and fIF= 20 MHz in a 50- Ω-impedance system. Unlike conventional subharmonic resistive FET mixers, this type of mixer operates with only one transistor and does not need any balun at the local oscillator (LO) port, which makes it more compact.

A 30-GHz Integrated Subharmonic Mixer Based on a Multichannel Graphene FET

A 30-GHz integrated subharmonic mixer based on a single graphene field-effect transistor (G-FET) has been designed, fabricated, and characterized. The mixer is realized in microstrip technology on a 250- μm-high-resistivity silicon substrate. In order to enhance the current on-off ratio, the G-FET utilizes a channel consisting of an array of bow-tie structured graphene, yielding a current on-off ratio of 7. A conversion loss (CL) of 19 ± 1 dB over the frequency range of 24-31 GHz is obtained with a local oscillator (LO) to RF isolation better than 20 dB at an LO power of 10 dBm. The overall minimum CL is 18 dB at 27 GHz. The mixer has a 3 GHz ± 1-dB IF bandwidth, which is achieved with a fixed LO signal of 15 GHz. The mixer linearity is characterized and the highest third-order intercept point is measured to be 12.8 dBm.

A Large-Signal Graphene FET Model

We propose a semi-empirical graphene field-effect-transistor (G-FET) model for analysis and design of G-FET-based circuits. The model describes the current-voltage characteristic for a G-FET over a wide range of operating conditions. The gate bias dependence of the output power spectrum is studied and compared with the simulated values. Good agreement between the simulated and the experimental power spectrums up to the third harmonic is demonstrated, which confirms the model validity. Moreover, S-parameter measurements essentially coincide with the results obtained from the simulation. The model contains a small set of fitting parameters, which can be straightforwardly extracted from S-parameters and dc measurements. The developed extraction method gives a more accurate estimation of the drain and source contact resistances compared with other approaches. As a design example, we use a harmonic balance load-pull approach to extract optimum embedding impedance values for a subharmonic G-FET mixer.

Graphene-Si Schottky IR Detector

This paper reports on photodetection properties of the graphene-Si schottky junction by measuring current-voltage characteristics under 1.55-μm excitation laser. The measurements have been done on a junction fabricated by depositing mechanically exfoliated natural graphite on top of the pre-patterned silicon substrate. The electrical Schottky barrier height is estimated to be (0.44-0.47) eV with a minimum responsivity of 2.8 mA/W corresponding to an internal quantum efficiency of 10%, which is almost an order of magnitude larger than regular Schottky junctions. A possible explanation for the large quantum efficiency related to the 2-D nature of graphene is discussed. Large quantum efficiency, room temperature IR detection, ease of fabrication along with compatibility with Si devices can open a doorway for novel graphene-based photodetectors.

Numerical optimization of the single fundamental mode output from a surface modified vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser

The effects of etching a shallow surface relief in the top mirror of an oxide confined vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser, for the purpose of selecting the fundamental mode, have been investigated by numerical simulations. A quasi-3-D model has been implemented which self-consistently accounts for optical, electrical, and thermal effects. The design has been optimized for maximum single fundamental mode output and the limiting mechanisms have been studied. The results are also compared with experimental values and the effects of limitations in fabrication precision are investigated.

A 0.2-W Heterostructure Barrier Varactor Frequency Tripler at 113 GHz

We present a high-power InAlAs/InGaAs/InP heterostructure barrier varactor (HBV) frequency tripler. The HBV device topology was designed for efficient thermal dissipation and high efficiency. To verify simulations, the device was flip-chip soldered onto embedding microstrip circuitry on an aluminum nitride substrate. This hybrid circuit was then mounted in a waveguide block without any movable tuners. From the resulting RF measurements, the maximum output power was 195 mW at 113 GHz, with a conversion efficiency of 15%. The measured 3-dB bandwidth was 1.5%

Large ground-to-first-excited-state transition energy separation for InAs quantum dots emitting at 1.3 μm

By capping InAs quantum dots (QDs) with a thin intermediate layer of InAlAs instead of GaAs, the radiative transition wavelengths are redshifted. Surface morphology studies confirm that the redshift is due to a better preserved QD height as compared with capping by GaAs only. In contrast, the energy levels are blueshifted when using AlGaAs instead of GaAs as the barrier material. In both cases, the energy separation between the ground and the first-excited state increases significantly. Combining these approaches, we demonstrate InAs QDs with a record transition energy separation of 108 meV and ground-state emission at 1.3 μm.

Single-mode power dependence on surface relief size for mode-stabilized oxide-confined vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

We have studied the mode behavior of oxide-confined vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) with a surface relief for fundamental mode selection. The dependence of single-mode power on the surface relief diameter was measured and compared with numerically calculated values. VCSELs with diameters of 9 and 12 /spl mu/m were equipped with surface reliefs with diameters in the range 4-10 /spl mu/m. The results show that there exists an optimum relief diameter for each VCSEL size. A maximum single-mode power of 2.2 mW was achieved for a 9-/spl mu/m-diameter VCSEL with a 4-/spl mu/m-diameter surface relief.

Thermal constraints for heterostructure barrier varactors

Current research on heterostructure barrier varactors (HBVs) devotes much effort to the generation of very high power levels in the millimeter wave region. One way of increasing the power handling capacity of HBVs is to stack several barriers epitaxially. However, the small device dimensions lead to very high temperatures in the active layers, deteriorating the performance. We have derived analytical expressions and combined those with finite element simulations, and used the results to predict the maximum effective number of barriers for HBVs. The thermal model is also used to compare the peak temperature and power handling capacity of GaAs and InP-based HBVs. It is argued that InP-based devices may be inappropriate for high-power applications due to the poor thermal conductivity of the InGaAs modulation layers.