GaAs/AlGaAs photonic integrated circuits fabricated using chemically assisted ion beam etching

Photonic integrated circuits with a virtually complete set of active and passive devices are fabricated in the GaAs/AlGaAs system by single-step chemically assisted ion beam etching. Using this straightforward processing technique, photonic integrated circuits consisting of etched facet ridge waveguide lasers coupled to passive waveguides, beamsplitters, etched turning mirrors, and photodetectors are demonstrated. The results presented point to the promise of this technique for the fabrication of future high-complexity photonic integrated circuits.