Holographic photoelectrochemical etching of diffraction gratings in n -InP and n -GaInAsP for distributed feedback lasers

Direct photoelectrochemical (PEC) etching of diffraction gratings on n-InP and n-GaInAsP in a 2-M HF/0.5-M KOH solution has been demonstrated using laser interference holography. Development of a maskless technique for producing gratings has potential application in the fabrication of distributed feedback lasers which are currently made by a multistep photoresist process. Submicron diffraction gratings having a period of 0.5 μm, corresponding to second-order feedback in GaInAsP at λ=1.55 μm, have been achieved. Measurements were obtained on the exposure characteristics, diffraction efficiency, and PEC etching sensitivity of gratings produced in InP and GaInAsP as a function of the writing beam intensity, laser wavelength, material doping level, and grating spatial frequency. For grating frequencies greater than 100 mm−1 the sensitivity was observed to decrease approximately as the inverse square of the spatial frequency. In addition, undoped InP and GaInAsP exhibited significantly lower sensitivities than n-doped material.