NITROGEN IMPLANTED ULTRAFAST SAMPLING SWITCH

Abstract

A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device suitable for optoelectronic switching in response to light of wavelengths in the range 1200 nm to 1600 nm, comprising forming an undoped InGaAs layer on an insulative semiconductor substrate and bonded on opposed sides to a pair of electrical contact layers adapted to constitute the electrodes of a switch, comprising forming the bulk point defects by irradiating the InGaAs layer with Nitrogen ions.

Description

The present invention relates to ultra fast optoelectronic switching using telecommunications wavelengths, suitable for digital sampling of analog waveforms.

Existing optoelectronic switches for this purpose have used Gallium Arsenide-based material systems, which require the absorption of light at 800-1180 nm wavelengths from lasers which are traditionally bulky and are limited in their use in the field. The technology for producing such Gallium Arsenide ultra fast materials with repeatable direct current and temporal characteristics is also problematic, and this has increased unit cost. Previous telecommunications wavelength switches have been created using heavy ion implantation of Indium Gallium Arsenide with Gold and Bromine, but the effect of the amorphous region, where implanted ions come to rest in the underlying Indium Phosphide substrate, has been detrimental to switch performance, because this layer is too conductive and defects can migrate into the switch active region with time, altering switch performance. This has been overcome by the removal of the amorphous region from the devices, but the removal of the layer produces very thin devices, typically much less than 100 μm, which are difficult to handle. Radio frequency transmission through these devices is also compromised by the very thin substrates that are produced.

Accordingly, the purpose of the present invention is to provide a reliable device responsive to laser sources at telecommunications wavelengths, which will allow for the system integration of the switching device, to give the device a smaller footprint at a lower cost, for the sampling of waveforms.

The invention provides a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device suitable for optoelectronic switching in response to light of wavelengths in the range 1200 nm to 1600 nm, comprising forming an undoped InGaAs layer on an insulative semiconductor substrate and bonded on opposed sides to a pair of electrical contact layers adapted to constitute the electrodes of a switch, comprising forming bulk point defects by irradiating the InGaAs layer with Nitrogen ions.

The invention further provides a method of using a device, or a switch incorporating such a device, made in accordance with the invention, comprising irradiating the InGaAs layer with light of wavelengths in the range 1200 nm to 1600 nm modulated in intensity to switch on and off repeatedly an electronic input signal applied to one of the ohmic or non-ohmic contact layers whereby to generate a sample of the input signal at the output.

The invention also provides a method of use of such a device or switch to generate or to detect picosecond or sub-picosecond length pulses for applications in the frequency range of 100 GHz to 10 THz and/or to sample microwave frequency signals.

The following publications provide background to the present invention, and may be referred to for more detailed explanation of the relevant technology:

Sampling Switches

Optoelectronic Sampling Review Paper:

• G. C. Valley “Photonic analogue to digital converters” Optics Express, Vol. 15, Issue 5, pp. 1955-1982, March 2007—Note: a lengthy document, section 6.1 gives an idea of the role of the photo-switch in A to D conversion.

Optoelectronic Sample and Hold Circuit:

• C. Sun, C. Wu, C. Chang et al. “A bridge type optoelectronic sample and hold circuit” IEEE Int. Symp. Circuits & Systems 1991. June 1991 pp. 3003-3006

Competing Technologies

Nitrogen Ion implanted Gallium Arsenide:

• M. Mikulics, E. A. Michael, M. Marso, M. Lepsa et al. “Traveling-wave photomixers fabricated on high energy nitrogen-ion-implanted GaAs” App. Phys. Letts vol. 89, 0711030 (3 pp.).

Heavy Ion Implanted Indium Gallium Arsenide Switches:

• J. Delagnes, P. Mounaix, H. Nemec, L. Fekete et al. “High Photocarrier mobility in ultrafast ion-irradiated In_0.53Ga_0.47As for terahertz applications” J. Phys.—App. Phys. Vol. 42 195103 (6 pp) September 2009
• Mangeney, and P. Crozat “Ion-irradiated In_0.53Ga_0.47As photoconductive antennas for THz generation and detection at 1.55 μm wavelength photoconductive antenna excited at 1.55 μm” C. R. Physique Vol. 9, pp. 142-152, October 2007

Electrooptic Sampler Only not for Sampling Microwave Signals:

• L. Joulaud, J. Mangeney, N. Chimot et al. “A 210 GHz Bandwidth Electrooptic Sampler for Large Signal Characterization of InP-based Components” IEEE Photonic Tech. Letts. Vol. 17, no. 12, December 2005

Low Temperature Grown Gallium Arsenide Sampling Switches:

• J-M. Delord, J. F. Roux, J. L. Coutaz, C. Canseliet et al. “Sampling of RF signals with LTG-GaAs based MSM structures” European Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics and the International Quantum Electronics Conference, CLEO, Munich, 2007.
• J-M. Delord J-F. Roux, J-L. Coutaz and N. Breiul “Performance assessment of low temperature-grown GaAs-based optoelectronic devices dedicated to RF sampling applications” CLEO/Europe—EQEC 2009—European Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics and the European Quantum Electronics Conference, Baltimore, June 2009.

ErAs:InGaAs Ultrafast Switch:

• F. Ospald, D. Maryenko, K. von Klitzing, D. C. Driscoll et al. “1.55 um ultrafast photoconductive switches based on ErAs:InGaAs” App. Phys. Letts. Vol. 92, 131117 (3 pp.) April 2008
• B. Sartorious, H. Roehle, H. Kunzel, J. Bottcher et al. “All-fiber terahertz time-domain spectrometer operating at 1.5 μm telecom wavelengths” Optics Express vol. 16, No. 3, pp. 9565-9570 June 2008

EL-2 Carrier Traps in GaAs and InGaAs

• A Krotkus and Jean-Louis Coutaz “Non-stoichiometric semiconductor materials for terahertz optoelectronics applications” Semicond. Sci. Technol. vol. v. 20 (2005) S142-S150 June 2005

Some competing technologies will now be described briefly, to place the invention in its context.

Competing Technologies

• • Low temperature Grown GaAs (LT-GaAs)—this is an established ultra fast material that is only able to absorb light at wavelengths of 750 nm to 1080 nm—it requires bulky and expensive Ti-Sapphire lasers. It also requires an annealing stage to optimise the material.
  • Ion implanted GaAs—ion implantation by Nitrogen etc. has been performed and has comparable performance to LT-GaAs but such materials still cannot absorb at short wavelengths.
  • Low temperature grown InGaAs—due to surface recombination (causing long switch off times) and high leakage currents, this requires Beryllium (Be) doping and additional carrier absorption layers.
  • Shallow ion implantation of InGaAs has been performed but the implanted ions reside in the light absorption area, causing changes in its electrical properties.
  • Deep ion implantation by Hydrogen and heavy ions—has been successfully performed but the Hydrogen ion concentration must be exceptionally high which may result in surface damage while use of heavy ions normally requires substrate removal for stable performance due to the effects of the amorphous region upon the device performance.
  • ErAs nanoparticles grown in an InGaAs superlattice—this is a complex structure which has concentrated for its application on terahertz emission and detection rather than on sampling switches.

Table 1 below provides a summary of the performance of competing materials indicating the applicable wavelength range and the suitability of the device as a sampling switch:

TABLE 1
	Wavelengths/	Sampling
Material	nm	Switch	Comments
LT-GaAs	750-1180	Yes	Cannot absorb at
			telecommunication
			wavelengths.
			Annealing required.
Ion Implanted	750-1180	No	Cannot absorb at
GaAs			telecommunication
			wavelengths.
LT-InGaAs	1200-1600	No	Be doping and carrier
			absorbing layers required.
Shallow Ion	1200-1600	No	Annealing required to
Implanted			reform lattice. Implanted
InGaAs			ions cause change to
			electrical properties
Heavy Ion	1200-1600	No	Amorphous region effects
implantation			performance may require
			substrate removal. Low
			mobility.
Nitrogen	1200-1600	Yes	Ultrafast high mobility
Implanted			material where amorphous
			region has no effect upon
			the device.

The use of Nitrogen ion implantation to produce the device in accordance with the invention leads to material of consistent electrical and temporal characteristics which can be produced on a repeatable basis. In Nitrogen implanted devices, the inert nature of the amorphous region means that no substrate removal is required after implantation. This enables the devices to be robust, since no thinning is required, and this robustness provides a consistent radio frequency transmission characteristic over a range of substrate depths when using coplanar waveguides, for example.

The absorption of radiation of 1200 to 1600 nm wavelengths by Nitrogen-ion implanted Indium Gallium Arsenide absorbing regions produces photo carriers which reduce the device resistance to such an extent that it acts as a low resistance area in series for example with a 50 ohm character impedance waveguide. The non-illuminated resistance of the device is typically several kilohms, and its illuminated resistance is typically 100 ohms or less. By using high energy Nitrogen ion implantation, typically over 1 MeV, the switch-off time of the device can be reduced to a few ps or less, and this short duration allows the device to be used as a sampling switch capable of Nyquist sampling for example of a 20 GHz waveform which is transmitted through the microwave planar waveguide.

In this context, Nitrogen ion “implantation” is intended to mean irradiation with a Nitrogen ion beam such that the radiation penetrates the Indium Gallium Arsenide layer and comes to rest outside that layer, typically within an adjacent Indium Phosphide substrate. Virtually no Nitrogen ions remain in the Indium Gallium Arsenide layer.

The device is switchable by 1200 to 1600 nm wavelength laser pulses to produce on and off states of electrical transmissivity which are required for waveform sampling. The switches embodying the invention are capable of ultra fast characteristics, such that the switch-off time can be below 10 ps.

The present invention has distinct advantages over the competing technologies mentioned above, in that it absorbs light at the required wavelengths typical for telecommunications, it is simple in its design and manufacture, it has high carrier mobility, and it requires no processing steps for the removal of any residual implanted ions.

In order that the invention may be better understood, a preferred embodiment will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a graph of recombination time in seconds against trap density per cubic centimetre, measured for proton-irradiated Indium Gallium Arsenide;

FIG. 2 a illustrates the layout of the device embodying the present invention having a mesa structure with interdigitated electrodes;

FIG. 2 b illustrates the structure of an optoelectronic switch in accordance with the embodiment of FIG. 2a;

FIG. 2 c illustrates, to an enlarged scale, the mesa structure of an alternative embodiment to that of FIG. 2a, illustrating the electrode gaps;

FIG. 3 a illustrates a coplanar waveguide including an optoelectronic switch device as shown in FIG. 2c, the waveguide embodying the invention;

FIG. 3 b shows the same switch but on a microstrip waveguide rather than a coplanar waveguide;

FIGS. 4 a to 4h illustrate diagrammatically the fabrication steps for a switch structure such as that of FIG. 2a;

FIG. 5 illustrates schematically the irradiation process using Nitrogen ions in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates the degree of penetration of Nitrogen ions through the Indium Gallium Arsenide layer and into the Indium Phosphide substrate, showing target depth in micro metres, transverse to the plane of the substrate;

FIG. 7 is a graph of current in amps against Bias voltage for a switch device embodying the invention, when switched on;

FIG. 8 is a graph of voltage in mV against time in ps to show the temporal response of an optoelectronic switch device embodying the present invention, and illustrating the switch-off time in response to a 2 ps 1.26 Watt peak laser pulse;

FIG. 9 is a graph of current in mA against Bias voltage to show the photoconductive behaviour of a switch device embodying the present invention, the device being biased at a voltage between 0 and 1 volt and either not illuminated (“dark current”) or illuminated with a 1500 nm laser, the illumination being at 10 mW, 20 mW, 30 mW, 40 mW and 50 mW; and

FIG. 10 illustrates a non-ohmic structure as an alternative to that of FIG. 2b.

An ultra fast optoelectronic switch embodying the invention, and illustrated below in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, comprises a coplanar waveguide formed on a layer of Indium_0.53 Gallium_0.47 Arsenide grown epitaxially upon an underlying substrate of semi-insulating Indium Phosphide. The coplanar waveguide has parallel ground paths on either side of a conductor which forms a signal path. The signal path is broken, terminating at a pair of opposed electrodes which are coupled to respective ohmic conductive regions connected to the Indium Gallium Arsenide layer. This structure enables part of the Indium Gallium Arsenide layer selectively to switch on and off the path between the electrodes of the signal path. A picosecond or femtosecond laser of suitable wavelength is arranged over the device to project a laser beam onto the switch region, to cause the Indium Gallium Arsenide to switch the conductive path on and off. An input signal waveform at one end of the waveguide is thereby sampled to provide a sample of the input signal at the output.

The mechanism of switching is that the laser beam causes a rapid increase in electrical carriers in the Indium Gallium Arsenide material, so reducing its resistance. Once the laser beam is switched off, the electrical carriers are rapidly absorbed in the Indium Gallium Arsenide, in carrier traps as described in greater detail below, so switching off the device electrically. The off-state resistance is typically of the order of several kilohms, and its on-state resistance is designed to be around 50 ohms using the appropriate laser intensity to achieve this. The selection of 50 ohms is designed to be consistent with typical impedances used as a standard in radio frequency waveguides.

During the illumination of the device, a radio frequency signal at its input is transmitted on the 50 ohm transmission line signal path across the 50 ohm load and it is detected at the output of the device. Upon extinction of the pulse, the device reverts to high resistance and the input signal is attenuated. With appropriate holding and analog-to-digital circuitry, the sampled output may then be processed digitally.

In order to sample signals of at least several GHz, the switch-off time of the device must ideally be reduced to less than 10 ps, and this is achieved, in accordance with the present invention, by greatly increasing the density of carrier traps in the photoconductive semiconductor material. By reducing the switch-off time, such high frequency signals may successfully be sampled, so that the sampled output provides an accurate digital profile of the analog input waveform.

In an ultra fast material such as Indium Gallium Arsenide, there is an intermediate level energy band pinned between the semiconductor conduction band and the valence band, and this intermediate level traps the photogenerated carriers during the recombination time, to allow the switch to switch off. This effect has been observed in LT GaAs, though the large band gap makes this material unsuitable for absorption at 1200 to 1600 nm. LT-Indium Gallium Arsenide is an option, but this is too conductive. The present invention causes the generation of deep level defects in Indium Gallium Arsenide through Nitrogen ion irradiation, to generate ultra fast behaviour without the disadvantages of prior structures, and Indium Gallium Arsenide is switched at 1200 to 1600 nm.

The recombination mechanism using the carrier traps is known as Shockley-Read-Hall recombination, and is described in greater detail in publications referred to above. This SRH recombination mechanism is dependent upon the presence of non-stoichiometric features within the semiconductor lattice. As with LT-Gallium Arsenide, this deep energy level in Indium Gallium Arsenide is created by the displacement of Gallium and Arsenic sites.

The reduction of the carrier recombination time in Indium Gallium Arsenide, from a few ns down to below 5 ps and sometimes below 1 ps can be achieved by the creation of the deep level defects by the irradiation with high energy Nitrogen ions. The majority of the trapping levels are caused by the interactions between disturbed interstitial Arsenic atoms and vacant Gallium sites. This mechanism is known as the EL-2 deep level defect.

In all semiconductors, imperfections in the lattice structure will induce SRH recombination; however, the concentrations of these carrier traps have a negligible effect upon the photo carrier recombination time, as direct recombination is the major process. In ultra fast materials, the much-increased trap concentration can reduce the recombination time to sub ps durations. With reference to the graph shown in FIG. 1, using values for capture cross section and thermal velocity, in equation 1 below, measured for proton-irradiated Indium Gallium Arsenide, the carrier trap concentration for a recombination time of 1 ps is expected to be about 5×10¹⁷ cm⁻³.

$\begin{array}{cc}{\tau }_{\rho }=\frac{1+\left(\frac{2n_i}{n_{\mathrm{no}}}\right)\cosh \left(\frac{E_t-E_i}{\mathrm{kT}}\right)}{V_{\mathrm{th}}{\sigma }_nN_t}\stackrel{\begin{array}{c}\mathrm{Room}\\ \mathrm{temperature}\end{array}}{\Rightarrow }{\tau }_{\rho }\approx \frac{1}{V_{\mathrm{th}}{\sigma }_nN_t}& \mathrm{Equation}1\end{array}$

where τρ=recombination time, V_th=carrier thermal velocity, σ_n=capture cross section, and N_t=trap density.

The structure of a switch device embodying the invention will now be described with reference to FIGS. 2a to 2c. As shown in FIG. 2a, the signal path, shown as the central conductor between two ground conductors, is broken in such a way as to form a mesa structure with one pair of electrodes 2a, 2b at one end interdigitated with another pair of electrodes 2c, 2d at the other end. There is a substantially constant gap between the electrodes, to allow the Indium Gallium Arsenide material to selectively conduct electricity across that gap.

An alternative structure is shown in FIG. 2c, with one electrode 3c interdigitated with a pair of electrodes 3a, 3b on the other side, and a consistent gap g between the electrodes. In the example of FIG. 2c, the mesa structure 1 has dimensions approximately 25 μm square.

In this embodiment the electrode gap g is typically in the range of 3-5 μm depending on the design required although if suitable lithography is available it can advantageously be reduced to under 1 μm.

As shown in cross section in FIG. 2b, the device has a semi-insulating Fe: InP substrate 4 with a thickness of 400 μm down to 100 μm depending on the application required. Adjacent the substrate 4 is an earth plane 5 (not shown in FIG. 2b) of 20 nm Cr and 250 nm Au.

As described below, an upper layer of the substrate 4 is largely devoid of implanted Nitrogen ions, which instead come to rest in an amorphous region in a lower layer of the substrate.

The Indium Gallium Arsenide layer is formed as layer 7 in direct contact with, and bonded to, the Indium Phosphide layer 4, to a thickness typically of 300 nm. A central portion of this layer 7 is exposed to allow it to be irradiated with Nitrogen ions, as described below.

On each side of the opening, there remains an n-InP etch stop layer 8 over the layer 7, and an n-Indium Gallium Arsenide ohmic layer 9 over layer 8. Each of the layers 8 and 9 has a thickness typically of 50 nm. Electrodes 6a and 6b are formed on each side of the Indium Gallium Arsenide layer 7 and over the respective ohmic layers 9, and these electrodes are connected integrally to the waveguide conductors as described below with reference to FIG. 3.

A typical coplanar waveguide structure for radio frequency signals is shown in FIG. 3a, and in this example its width is 300 μm. The width of the central conductor is 25 μm, and the substrate thickness ranges from 100 μm to 400 μm, as in the example of FIG. 2b. The mesa structure active optoelectronic device 1 is shown at the centre of the waveguide in FIG. 3a.

A microstrip waveguide with a switch having the mesa structure 1 is shown in FIG. 3b, and in this example its length is 1 mm and its width is 95 μm.

The manufacturing process of the device as described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3 will now be described with reference to FIGS. 4a to 4h. As shown in FIG. 4a, an Indium Gallium Arsenide on Indium Phosphide wafer is prepared and cleaved, using organic and inorganic reagent cleaning. The next fabrication step is alignment mark pattern lithography and deposition of a 20 nm Chromium layer and a 100 nm Gold layer, to achieve the pattern shown in FIG. 4b. The next fabrication step is mesa pattern photo lithography, the pattern being aligned using alignment marks and a single layer resist.

The next step is etching an ohmic layer mesa structure, shown in FIG. 4c. 50 nm n-Indium Gallium Arsenide etching is performed with H₃PO₄/H₂O₂/H₂O for 30 seconds. 50 nm n-InP etching is performed by H₃PO₄/HCl for 30 seconds.

The next fabrication step is etching an Indium Gallium Arsenide mesa structure of 300 nm thickness using H₃PO₄/H₂O₂/H₂O for 3 minutes. This produces the structure shown in FIG. 4d.

The next stage is electrode and waveguide pattern exposure and development. Ultraviolet at 25 mJ/cm² exposure is undertaken for 5 seconds, and developed for 40 seconds. As shown in FIG. 4e, the next stage is electrode and waveguide deposition using 20 nm Chromium and 350 nm Gold deposition layers.

As shown in FIG. 4f, the next stage is ohmic layer removal in the electrode gap. This is achieved by 50 nm n-Indium Gallium Arsenide etching by H₃PO₄/H₂O₂/H₂O for 15 seconds, followed by 50 nm n-Indium Phosphide etching by H₃PO₄/HCl for 15 seconds.

The sample is then annealed by heating it to 400° C. in a Nitrogen atmosphere for 5 minutes.

As shown in FIG. 4g, the next stage is Nitrogen ion implantation (irradiation) with the sample heated to 200° C. in a vacuum. Nitrogen ions are irradiated in a beam at 4 MeV with a fluence of 10¹³ cm⁻².

As shown in FIG. 4h, the wafer is then thinned as required, and metallised. The substrate is removed selectively by Al₂O₃ abrasive down to 125 μm thickness. A layer of 20 nm Chromium and 250 nm Gold is deposited for the earth plane.

Finally, the device is cleaved (not shown).

The ion irradiation is illustrated in FIG. 5, in which the ion beam, shown by arrows, is set at a 7° angle to the perpendicular to the substrate, in order to optimise the collision rate with the lattice. The sample is rotated by 22.5° to ensure a uniform collision profile. The lattice structure is symbolised with the jagged broken lines in FIG. 5.

FIG. 6 illustrates the absorption of the Nitrogen ion beam, as a function of target depth within the substrate. The Nitrogen ion beam at an energy of 1 MeV to 10 MeV, preferably about 4 MeV, and a fluence of 10¹² to 10¹⁴ cm⁻², preferably about 10¹³ cm⁻², penetrates the Indium Gallium Arsenide layer (shown on the left hand side of the diagram) leaving virtually no Nitrogen ions in that layer. Less than approximately 1% of the Nitrogen ions are absorbed in the Indium Phosphide layer to a depth of less than 1 μm, so that this layer, adjacent the Indium Gallium Arsenide layer, does not interfere with the switch. As shown in FIG. 6, most of the Nitrogen ions come to rest at a depth of between 2 μm and 4 μm in the substrate.

The direct current characteristic of the switch, formed in accordance with the invention, in its on state, is illustrated in FIG. 7, showing that its characteristic is largely ohmic. The implanted device carrier mobility was found to be around 9000 cm²V⁻¹s⁻¹. This is significantly higher than the values that have been published (see the literature references above) for heavy ion implanted devices.

With reference to FIG. 8, which shows the temporal response of the implanted switch irradiated with a 2 ps 1.26 w peak laser pulse, the carrier recombination time at FWHM (Full Wave Half Maximum) is 5 ps. Based on these measurements, the switch embodying the invention would be able to sample waveforms up to 20 GHz in frequency and above. The graph shown in FIG. 8 can be represented by equation 2 below.

$\begin{array}{cc}v\left(t\right)=23.8·\exp \frac{\left(-t\right)}{5ps}& \mathrm{Equation}2\end{array}$

where v is voltage and t is time.

The performance of the device in its on and in its off states is illustrated in FIG. 9, showing current in mA against bias voltage, for different intensities of the illuminating laser beam at 1550 nm. The six graphs show: dark current (not illuminated); and illuminated at powers of 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 mW.

The capacitance of these optoelectronic switches was found to be at a maximum value of about 10 fF, while the radio frequency response indicated that the switch capacitance on the 50 ohm coplanar waveguide was approximately 12 fF. The measurement of the radio frequency output of the switch in the off state showed that the pre-implanted switch and the post-implanted switch had similar frequency responses, indicating that the relative permittivity of the implanted material at 13.9 had not been affected by the increased lattice defect number.

The carrier trap concentration should preferably be in the range of 10¹⁶ to 10¹⁶ cm⁻³, preferably about 5×10¹⁷ cm⁻³.

The device may be used with 1200 nm to 1600 nm wavelength pulsed light to switch an electronic signal applied to one of the ohmic or non ohmic contact layers to generate an output digital signal which is effectively a sample of the input signal. It may be used to generate or detect pulses of less than 10 ps width and optionally a few ps or even sub-picosecond width. This has applications in the sampling of microwave frequency signals.

An alternative structure to that of FIG. 2b is the non-ohmic contact layer mesa structure shown in FIG. 10, in which the layers are also not drawn to scale. A chromium/gold layer 10 forms the signal transmission line as well as the electrodes which contact the opposite sides of the active InGaAs layer 7. The mesa structure is formed by photolithography and selective acid etching. The electrodes are deposited by metal evaporation of 20 nm chromium and 350 μm gold patterned by photolithography.

Whilst certain embodiments have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the inventions. Indeed, the novel devices, methods and products described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms; furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the devices, methods and products described herein may be made without departing from the spirit of the inventions. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the inventions.

Claims

1. A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device suitable for optoelectronic switching in response to light of wavelengths in the range 1200 nm to 1600 nm, comprising forming an undoped InGaAs layer on an insulative semiconductor substrate and bonded on opposed sides to a pair of electrical contact layers adapted to constitute the electrodes of a switch, comprising forming bulk point defects by irradiating the InGaAs layer with Nitrogen ions.

2. A method according to claim 1, in which the irradiation is at an energy such that the Nitrogen ions penetrate the InGaAs layer and come to rest in the underlying substrate.

3. A method according to claim 1, in which the implantation energy is in the range 1 MeV to 10 MeV.

4. A method according to claim 3, in which the implantation energy is substantially 4 MeV.

5. A method according to claim 1, in which the fluence of the irradiation with Nitrogen ions is in the range of 1012 to 1014 cm−2.

6. A method according to claim 1, in which the irradiation is such that most of the Nitrogen ions come to rest within the substrate between 1 μm and 4 μm, predominantly 2 μm to 4 μm, from the InGaAs layer.

7. A method according to claim 1, in which the substrate comprises semi-insulating InP.

8. A method according to claim 1, in which the InGaAs layer is of InxGayAs where x is 0.53 and y is 0.47.

9. A method according to claim 1, in which the InGaAs layer has bulk point defects at which some of the Gallium and Arsenic sites are displaced to constitute carrier traps, for Shockley-Read-Hall recombination of photogenerated carriers, by the interaction between the displaced interstitial As atoms and vacant Ga sites and in which the carrier trap concentration is in the range of 1016 cm−3 to 1019 cm−3.

10. A method according to claim 1, in which the substrate thickness is in the range of 100 μm to 1 mm.

11. A method according to claim 1, in which the InGaAs layer has a thickness in the range of 100 nm to 1 μm.

12. A method of manufacture of an optoelectronic switch operable with light of wavelengths 1200 to 1600 nm, comprising forming a device using the method of claim 1, and using the device to form a waveguide for an electronic signal.

13. A method of manufacture according to claim 12, in which the waveguide is a coplanar waveguide with a signal path between two ground paths.

14. A method of manufacture according to claim 12, in which the electrodes are interdigitated in a mesa structure.

15. A method of manufacture according to claim 14, in which the gap between the electrodes is in the range of 3 μm to 5 μm.

16. A method of manufacture according to claim 14, in which the gap between the electrodes is in the range of 1 μm to 5 μm.

17. A method of manufacture according to claim 14, in which the gap between the electrodes is below 1 μm.

18. A method of use of a device manufactured in accordance with claim 1, comprising irradiating the InGaAs layer with light of wavelength in the range of 1200 nm to 1600 nm modulated in intensity to switch on and off repeatedly an electronic input signal applied to one of the electrical contact layers whereby to generate a sample of the input signal at the output.

19. A method according to claim 18, in which the carrier recombination time within the InGaAs layer, measured as the Full Width at Half Maximum, FWHM, period for the electronic signal voltage across the ohmic contact layers of the InGaAs layer to achieve switch off in a switching cycle, is less than 10 ps.

20. A method according to claim 19, in which the switch off time is less than 5 ps.

21. A method according to claim 20, in which the switch off time is less than 1 ps.

22. A method of use of a semiconductor device made by the method of claim 1 to generate or to detect sub-picosecond pulses for applications in the frequency range of 100 GHz to 10 THz.

23. A method of use of a device made by the method of claim 1 to sample microwave frequency signals.