Abstract
We report the intermixing enhancement using the Ge-doped sol-gel derived silica encapsulant layer in InGaAs/InGaAsP quantum-well laser structure. A bandgap shift of similar to 64 nm has been observed from 16% Ge-doped silica capped sample at an annealing temperature of 630 degrees C while the intermixing at the similar temperature can be effectively suppressed with the e-beam evaporated SiO2 encapsulant layer. Using our theoretical model, nearly identical activation energy of 1.7 +/- 0.5 eV was obtained from the intermixed sample with Ge-doped silica. Similar intermixing enhancement holds for high Ge-content cap in the intertnixed GaAs/AlGaAs quantum-wells related to Ga vacancy injection. We postulate that the dissimilarity in interdiffusion behavior between 0% and 16% Ge-doped silica capped sample is only attributed to the difference in the number of beneficial vacancies that involve in the intermixing process.