Fabry-Perot interferometer with quantum well mirror for controllable dispersion compensation

TL;DR

This paper proposes a novel Fabry-Perot interferometer design using a quantum well mirror to actively control and switch second-order dispersion, enabling precise dispersion compensation in optical systems.

Contribution

It introduces a new monolithic interferometer with a quantum well mirror for tunable dispersion control, demonstrated with InGaAs/GaAs heterostructures at cryogenic temperatures.

Findings

Negative dispersion achieved near excitonic resonance.

Dispersion control can be switched on and off.

Constant reflection coefficient maintained across the spectral region.

Abstract

In this work, we investigate a possibility of controlling second-order dispersion in a monolithic Fabry-Perot interferometer based on epitaxial heterostructure with quantum well (QW) serving as a bottom mirror. Careful choice of heterostructure parameters and experimental conditions makes it possible to introduce negative dispersion in a very narrow spectral region of QW excitonic resonance while maintaining a constant reflection coefficient across this region. The feasibility of the concept is demonstrated for heterostructures with InGaAs/GaAs QWs at cryogenic temperatures. We also propose an active device design that can switch the dispersion compensation on and off by controlling the exciton ensemble's environment.