PROCEEDINGS ARTICLE | September 5, 2014
Proc. SPIE. 9199, Terahertz Emitters, Receivers, and Applications V
KEYWORDS: Gold, Waveguides, Cladding, Metals, Copper, Gallium arsenide, Quantum cascade lasers, Terahertz radiation, Semiconducting wafers, Wafer bonding
We report our research on processing of AlGaAs/GaAs structures for THz quantum-cascade lasers (QCLs). We focus on
the processes of fabrication of Ti/Au claddings for metal-metal waveguides and the wafer bonding with indium solder.
We place special emphasis on the optimum technological conditions of these processes, leading to working devices. The
wide range of technological conditions was studied, by use of test structures and analyses of their electrical, optical,
chemical and mechanical properties, performed by electron microscopic techniques, energy dispersive X-ray
spectrometry, secondary ion mass spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, fourier-transform infra-red spectroscopy and
circular transmission line method. On the basis of research a set of technological conditions was selected, and devices
lasing at the maximum temperature 130K were fabricated from AlGaAs/GaAs structures grown by molecular beam
epitaxy (MBE) technique. Their threshold-current densities were about 1.5kA/cm2. Additionally we report our initial
stage research on fabrication of Cu-based claddings, that theoretically are more promising than the Au-based ones for
fabrication of low-lossy waveguides for THz QCLs.
