Electrical and optical characteristics of n-type-doped distributed Bragg mirrors on InP

The development of high reflectivity and low electrical resistivity Bragg mirrors is crucial for the emergence of 1.55-μm vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSEL's). Here, we report on three different n-type-doped semiconductor Bragg mirrors which are all lattice-matched to InP. The material systems are InGaAsP-InP, AlGaInAs-AlInAs, and AlGaAsSb-AlAsSb and the layers are designed for 1.55-μm operation. The influence of the structural and intrinsic properties of the different heterostructures on the electrical resistivity and optical reflectivity is analyzed for the three samples.