Appendix A

Refractive Index
ofInGaAsP
This appendix provides the refractive index of Inl_xGaxAsyPl_y in the long-wave-
length regime. Although a rather complete treatment has been presented by Adachi
[1], we follow a semitheoretical treatment based on a modified single-effective-os-
cillator method [2-4] to provide a graphical and analytical representation of the re-
fractive index. In addition, good agreement has been found with measurements, so
these data are particularly well suited for our purpose.
Restricting the analysis to the transparent wavelength region, which means that
the refractive indices of active regions may not be covered, the bandgap energy Eg
and the single oscillator energies,

Eo (in eV) = O.595x2(1 - y) + 1.626xy- 1.891y + O.524x + 3.391 (A. 1)

Ed (in eV) = (12.36x - l2.7l)y + 7.54x + 28.91 (A.2)

are required to calculate the refractive index for the photon energy E:

neE) = (A.3)

where

(A.4)

Using the wavelength and bandgap wavelength instead of E and Eg by way of

(2.23), respectively, the refractive index of Inl-xGaxAsyPl_y lattice-matched to InP
is plotted in Figure A.1(a). Here the dependence of Eg on the mole fractions x andy
is taken from (2.22), and lattice matching links the mole fractions by (2.21).

Tunable Laser Diodes and Related Optical Sources, 2nd ed. By Buus, Amann, and Blumenthal 339
ISBN 0-471-20816-7 © 2004 by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
340 REFRACTIVE INDEX OF InGaAsP

(a) 3.50 r---+--+---+-+---It----+------ir\---+--~~-~_+__-

3. 45 r----+t--+----+~+---+-~-----l-~~__+----:~_+_-
1500 i
1400
~ 3.40 t---+-~-+__-+--~-+--+-~-_+____+_~~_+_-
~ 1300
Q)
>
:;:; 1200
o 3.30 t---+-~---+-+--~---+------l--+--~......:::!IIfoo~+___+_-
~
co
~
Q) 1100
a:
1000
3. 20 t---+----4---+-+---+----J---I--:::::II~~---l--+__.....J---

3.15 I---....L....---J....---'------'--------'----I--------'----'_..l-....I.......-----I..----L.-_
920 (InP)
1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500
Wavelength (nm)

(b) 3.55 , , 1
Wavelength (nm)
__ L
- -'- - .J _
1300 1550
3.50 I

3.45
x
Q)
"0 3.40
.~
Q)
> 3.35
- -'- -
I

,
I
- -,- -
,,
--.-- I
I

:;:; - -,-- - -,-- --,..-- I

o
«S
~
3.30 I
~
Q) - -
,
.&. - -
- _1 _ _
, --1---
a:
1

3.25
- -,- - - - .. - - - -,- - - - j'" - -
,
3.20 t--"T71fI'--+-~__+_____r-+--~_+_____r_---+-,.---_+__~­
3.15 t-----+--__+--+---+-_+_------+--_+__---

900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600

Bandgap wavelength Ag (nm)

Figure A.1 (a) Refractive index of InGaAsP lattice matched to InP versus wavelength in the
transparent wavelength region. Parameter is the bandgap wavelength Ag (nm) = 1240/Eg (eV).
(b) Refractive index of InGaAsP lattice-matched to InP versus bandgap wavelength for fixed
wavelengths of 1,300 nm and 1,550 nm.

The refractive index for photon energies near and below the bandgap energy
may be obtained from [5, 6]. Using the experimental data in [6], where ellipsometry
was used to determine the optical constants, the refractive index of InGaAsP at the
bandgap energy is around 3.5 to 3.58, with typical values of 3.52 for Ag = 1,300 run
and 3.57 for Ag = 1,550 nm. It should be noted that the refractive index very close to
Eg is somewhat uncertain because of the strong disperion near the absorption edge.
 REFERENCES 341

For most semiconductor materials, including Ga(AI)As, the refractive index at hv

~ Eg is between 3.5 and 3.6 [6-8].
The effects of doping and carrier injection on the refractive index are not consid-
ered. In practice, however, it turns out that most InGaAsP waveguides and laser
structures can be designed reasonably accurately with the present data.
In usual design work, one frequently needs the refractive index at fixed wave-
lengths of 1,300 nrn and 1,550 nm as a function of the bandgap wavelength, as
shown in FigureA.1(b).

REFERENCES
[1] Adachi, S., "Refractive indices of III-V compounds: key properties of InGaAsP relevant
to device design," Journal ofApplied Physics, Vol. 53, 1982, pp. 5863-5869.
[2] Afromowitz, M. A., "Refractive index of Gal_xAlxAs," Solid State Communications,
Vol. 15, 1974, pp. 59-63.
[3] Utaka, K., Suematsu, Y., Kobayashi, K., and Kawanishi, H., "GalnAsP/lnP integrated
twin-guide lasers with first-order distributed Bragg reflectors at 1.3 urn wavelength,"
Japanese Journal ofApplied Physics, Vol. 19, 1980, pp. LI37-LI40.
[4] Broberg, B., and Lindgren, S., "Refractive index of Inl_xGaxAsyPl_y layers and InP in the
transparent wavelength region," Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 55, 1984, pp.
3376-3381.
[5] Buus, 1., and Adams, M. 1., "Phase and group indices for double heterostructure lasers,"
Solid-State and Electron Devices, Vol. 3, 1979, pp. 189-195.
[6] Burkhard, H., Dinges, H.W., and Kuphal, E., "Optical properties of Inl-xGaxPl-;AsY' InP,
GaAs, and GaP determined by ellipsometry," Journal ofApplied Physics, Vol. 53, 1982,
pp. 655-662.
[7] Chandra, P., Coldren, L. A., and Strege, K. E., "Refractive index data from GaxInl_x
AsyP1_y films," Electronics Letters, Vol. 17, 1981, pp. 6-7.
[8] Kokubo, Y., and Ohta, I., "Refractive index as a function of photon energy for AIGaAs
between 1.2 and 1.8 eV," Journal ofApplied Physics, Vol. 81,1997, pp. 2042-2043.