Role of electrorefraction in quantum-well Fabry–Perot modulators

Abstract
The effects of electrorefraction in quantum-well Fabry–Perot (FP) modulators are discussed theoretically and illustrated experimentally. The large electrorefraction at the zero-field heavy-hole exciton is shown to produce strong modulation in FP devices operated at that wavelength. At longer operating wavelengths, the weakening electrorefraction plays a diminishing role. By taking into account the field dependent absorption α(λ,E) and dispersion n(λ,E) of the quantum-well material, the measured reflectivity spectra are successfully modeled.