| In this thesis, various photonic crystal (PC) devices with quantum dot (QD) heterostructures have been theoretically and experimentally investigated for applications of spontaneous emission control and photonic integrated circuits (PICs).; First, a three-dimensional (3D) quasi-mode analysis has been developed for two-dimensional (2D) PC defect microcavities with complex vertical heterostructures. This analysis has been incorporated with the calculation of eigenstates in an InAs/GaAs pyramidal QD to investigate the spontaneous emission characteristics of self-organized QDs embedded in PC microcavities. As a result of both reduced cavity size and increased cavity Q, simulations show that the spontaneous emission enhancement factor (∼14), and coupling efficiency (∼97%) have been greatly improved for a high Q (∼1000) PC-VCSEL microcavity. The coupling efficiency in a low Q (∼200) PC-slab cavity reaches a sufficient level (∼67%) by simply reducing the cavity size.; Second, electrically-injected PC light sources with a QD active region and a horizontally-coupled defect waveguide have been realized. The mode coupling mechanism between a PC cavity and the adjacent waveguide has been investigated with direct and transverse coupling schemes. Device spectral characteristics confirm that strong mode coupling occurs only at the anti-crossings of transversely-coupled PC defect waveguides and cavities.; Third, PC-based resonant cavity photodiodes coupled with a PC waveguide have also been realized using the same twin-guide QD heterostructure as in the PC emitters. The measured spectral photocurrent characteristics demonstrate enhancement and narrowing (∼10nm) of the photoresponse at lambda ∼ 1.3mum, which is explained by a model involving circulating fields in the cavity. A spectral dip, ∼10nm in width, is also observed at 1.3mum, and may be due to the anti-crossing mechanism uniquely present in PC waveguides.; In addition to PC active devices, a relatively simple technique to fabricate 3D GaAs-based PCs has been developed by means of alternate-layer deposition on a 2D patterned substrate. The fabricated devices exhibit a transmission stopband ∼10dB along surface normal.; This dissertation will aid in the realization of miniature (∼40mum), electrically-injected PICs, such as microfluidic sensors for biomedical or environmental monitoring. This can be achieved by monolithically integrating the PC-waveguide-coupled emitters and detectors on the same chip. |
