Effect of carrier escape time on the performance of semi-insulating photorefractive self-electro-optic effect devices

We report on the effect of carrier escape time on the performance of semi-insulating photorefractive self-electro-optic effect devices by investigating three samples of Cr-doped GaAs/AlxGa1−xAs multiple quantum wells of varying barrier thickness and height. Reduction of barrier thickness from 100 to 35 Å and Al fraction from 0.42 to 0.29 results in a three orders of magnitude increase in diffraction efficiency at a given voltage. The effect of shorter carrier escape and sweep-out times on the diffraction efficiency, resolution, and sensitivity of these devices is discussed.