Design and control of mode interaction in coupled ZnTe optical microcavities

The photonics involving II-VI epitaxial layers was limited so far to structures based on a single planar microcavity. Here, we present double vertically coupled ZnTe optical microcavities in planar and 3-D photonic molecule geometry. We design the structures with the help of transfer matrix method calculations and we establish their fabrication technology using molecular beam epitaxy. We characterize the samples by reflectivity spatial mapping and study them by angle-integrated and angle-resolved photoluminescence and reflectivity. We effciently tailor the interaction strength of the optical cavities modes by adjusting the spatial separation between the microcavities, their thickness ratio and by the size of micropillars etched out of the planar structure. Coupling constants extracted from our measurements agree with those determined in calculations in the frame of a tight-binding approach applied to one-dimensional photonic structures.