Postfabrication fine-tuning of photonic crystal microcavities in InAs/InP quantum dot membranes -: art. no. 151107

A method to fine-tune photonic crystal defect cavities is developed based on successive oxidation and wet etching cycles. Photonic crystal microcavities based on InP membranes are oxidized using an ultraviolet (UV)/ozone treatment, and the oxide is subsequently removed using a hydrofluoric acid solution. Each oxidation/etch cycle consumes a thin layer of InP directly exposed to the UV/ozone, enlarging the radius of holes in the photonic crystal and decreasing the membrane thickness. The method is applied to single missing air-hole defect cavities with embedded InAs quantum dots, permitting measurement of the resonant frequency tuning in emission. Defect mode energies were found to blueshift 1.74 meV per cycle, consistent with finite-difference time-domain simulations. A tuning range of 33 meV was obtained after 20 cycles. (C) 2005 American Institute of Physics.