Absolute reflectance measurements by a modified cavity phase-shift method

This article reports on a modified cavity phase-shift (CAPS) method for accurate and reliable characterization of high reflectance mirrors. Our approach relies on using a directly modulated Fabry-Perot laser to circumvent the difficulties encountered in previous attempts with the CAPS method. The Fabry-Perot laser diode ensures a constant coupling between the probe laser and test cavity modes. This results in a stable beam intensity transmitted through the test cavity allowing for accurate measurements of the phase shift from which the absolute reflectance can be determined. The experimental arrangement presented in this article is versatile and easy to use. The method is nondestructive and especially suited for the characterization of distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs) employed in vertical-cavity optoelectronic devices. A premium feature of this method is its capability to probe a relatively small area of less than 1 mm which can be positioned anywhere across the surface of the wafer. We demonstrate the use of the method by measuring the absolute reflectance of metalorganic vapor-phase epitaxy grown AlAs/GaAs DBRs for 1.3 mum vertical-cavity lasers. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.