Patent ID: 9733497
Date: 2017-08-15
CPC Classifications: G02F

Claim:
1. A semiconductor optical modulator comprising: a semiconductor substrate; and a semiconductor multilayer structure formed on said semiconductor substrate and included in an optical waveguide in which a phase of light shifts with application of a voltage, said semiconductor multilayer structure including: said multiple quantum well structure including a layer structure including: a conduction band energy of said first and second barrier layers is larger than a conduction band energy of said intermediate layer, and the conduction band energy of said intermediate layer is larger than a conduction band energy of said well layer, a valence band energy of said intermediate layer is larger than a valence band energy of said well layer, and the valence band energy of said well layer is larger than a valence band energy of said first and second barrier layers, and a conduction band energy difference between the intermediate layer and the well layer is larger than a valence band energy difference between the intermediate layer and the well layer such that, even when a voltage is not applied to the optical waveguide, an electric field applied to the conduction band is larger than an electric field applied to the valence band.