A SAG technique is used to grow the ridge structure in a photonic
semiconductor device, such as an electroabsorption modulator integrated
with a distributed feedback laser (EML) assembly. The adoption of this
SAG technique to grow the ridge structure results in the formation of a
self-assembled and self-aligned ridge structure that has a very precise
configuration. The use of this process enables straight, bent and tilted
ridge structures to be formed with high precision. In addition, because
the ridge structure is self-assembled and self-aligned, a lesser number
of processing steps are required to create the photonic device in
comparison to the known approach that uses wet chemical etching
techniques to form the ridge structure. The high precision of the ridge
structure and the lesser number of processing steps needed to create the
device increase manufacturing yield and allow overall cost of the device
to be reduced.