Telecom InP/InGaAs nanolaser array directly grown on (001) silicon-on-insulator

A compact, efficient, and monolithically grown III–V laser source provides an attractive alternative to bonding off-chip lasers for Si photonics research. Although recent demonstrations of microlasers on (001) Si wafers using thick metamorphic buffers are encouraging, scaling down the laser footprint to nanoscale and operating the nanolasers at telecom wavelengths remain significant challenges. Here, we report a monolithically integrated in-plane InP/InGaAs nanolaser array on (001) silicon-on-insulator (SOI) platforms with emission wavelengths covering the entire C band (1.55 μm). Multiple InGaAs quantum wells are embedded in high-quality InP nanoridges by selective-area growth on patterned (001) SOI. Combined with air-cladded InP/Si optical cavities, room-temperature operation at multiple telecom bands is obtained by defining different cavity lengths with lithography. The demonstration of telecom-wavelength monolithic nanolasers on (001) SOI platforms presents an important step towards fully integrated Si photonics circuits

Colloidal quantum dots enabling coherent light sources for integrated silicon-nitride photonics

Integrated photoniccircuits, increasingly based on silicon (-nitride), are at the core of the next generation of low-cost, energy efficient optical devices ranging from on-chip interconnects to biosensors. One of the main bottlenecks in developing such components is that of implementing sufficient functionalities on the often passive backbone, such as light emission and amplification. A possible route is that of hybridization where a new material is combined with the existing framework to provide a desired functionality. Here, we present a detailed design flow for the hybridization of silicon nitride-based integrated photonic circuits with so-called colloidal quantum dots (QDs). QDs are nanometer sized pieces of semiconductor crystals obtained in a colloidal dispersion which are able to absorb, emit, and amplify light in a wide spectral region. Moreover, theycombine cost-effective solution based deposition methods, ambient stability, and low fabrication cost. Starting from the linear and nonlinear material properties obtained on the starting colloidal dispersions, we can predict and evaluate thin film and device performance, which we demonstrate through characterization of the first on-chip QD-based laser

Recent progress in epitaxial growth of dislocation tolerant and dislocation free III-V lasers on silicon

Epitaxial integration of III–V optical functionalities on silicon (Si) is the key to complement current Si photonics, facilitating the development of scalable, compact photonic integrated circuits. Here we aim to outline this field, focusing on the III–V semiconductor materials and the III–V lasers grown on Si. This paper is divided into two main parts: in the first part, we discuss III–V materials grown on Si, including the low-index {hhl} facets, (001) Si surface and anti-phase boundary, and dislocation engineering. The second part centres at III–V lasers grown on Si: we will first discuss III–V lasers that are highly tolerant to dislocations, including quantum dot/dash diode lasers, interband cascade, and quantum cascade lasers grown on Si from near infrared to long-wave infrared. We then move to the selective heteroepitaxy of low dislocation density III–Vs for the bufferless lasers. Finally, we review the III–V nanowire photonic crystal lasers grown on Si, which offers a different approach to overcome material mismatch and grow dislocation free III–V structures on silicon. We start with briefly introducing the recent progress of each technology, followed with a discussion of its key advantages, research challenge and opportunities

III-V-on-silicon photonic devices for optical communication and sensing

In the paper, we review our work on heterogeneous III-V-on-silicon photonic components and circuits for applications in optical communication and sensing. We elaborate on the integration strategy and describe a broad range of devices realized on this platform covering a wavelength range from 850 nm to 3.85 μm

Continuous-wave lasing from InP/InGaAs nanoridges at telecommunication wavelengths

We report continuous-wave lasing from InP/InGaAs nanoridges grown on a patterned (001) Si substrate by aspect ratio trapping. Multi-InGaAs ridge quantum wells inside InP nanoridges are designed as active gain materials for emission in the 1500 nm band. The good crystalline quality and optical property of the InGaAs quantum wells are attested by transmission electron microscopy and microphotoluminescence measurements. After transfer of the InP/InGaAs nanoridges onto a SiO2/Si substrate, amplified Fabry-Perot resonant modes at room temperature and multi-mode lasing behavior in the 1400 nm band under continuous-wave optical pumping at 4.5 K are observed. This result thus marks an important step towards integrating InP/InGaAs nanolasers directly grown on microelectronic standard (001) Si substrates. Semiconductor nanowires are emerging as ideal building blocks for ultra-compact optoelectronic devices with low-energy dissipation.1 As a result of axially guided optical modes and feedback provided by end-facets, lasing behaviors have been observed in various II-VI and III-V compound semiconductor nanostructures.2–16 In particular, indium phosphide (InP) and indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) nanolasers, emitting at silicon(Si)-transparent wavelengths, show great promise to fill a key missing on-chip component in Si photonic-based optical interconnects.17–21 However, most of the previously demonstrated InP/InGaAs nanolasers operate under pulsed-conditions.22–24 Continuous-wave (CW) lasing at telecom wavelengths has only been achieved in InP/InGaAs nanopillars grown on (111) Si substrates25 and InAsP/InP nanowires (inside Si photonic crystal cavity) grown on (111)B InP substrates, with lasing wavelengths situated at the 1200 and 1300 nm bands.26 Extending the lasing wavelengths to the 1400 nm and 1500 nm bands is desirable for high density inter/intra-chip data transmission. In this letter, we utilized InP/InGaAs nanoridges grown on a (001) Si substrate to demonstrate CW lasing behavior at the 1400 nm band. Compared with other hetero-epitaxial growth techniques, selective area growth combined with the aspect ratio trapping (ART) method provides a viable route to form well-aligned, millimeter-long horizontal in-plane nanowires on CMOS-standard (001) Si substrates.27–34 Previously, we have leveraged this approach to grow InP nanoridges with embedded InGaAs quantum wells (QWs) and quasi-quantum wires (QWRs) with strong photolumiescence.35,36 Here, we observe CW lasing at the telecommunication band from high quality multi-InGaAs ridge QWs inside the InP nanoridges directly grown on nanopatterned silicon. To explore the potential of the InP/InGaAs nanoridges as nanoscale light sources, we separated the InP/InGaAs nanoridges from the initial patterned Si substrate and transferred them onto a SiO2/Si substrate for optical characterization. We observed CW lasing at 4.5 K under optical excitation and strong optical mode modulation at room temperature. The InP/InGaAs nanoridges used in this experiment were grown on (001) Si substrates using a metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) system with a horizontal reactor (AIXTRON 200/4). [110] direction oriented SiO2 stripe patterns with a line pitch of 1 μm and a trench opening width of 450 nm were used to define the growth regions. Detailed sample preparation and the growth procedure have been reported elsewhere.35,36 Figure 1(a) presents the top-view scanning electron microscopy (SEM) image of the as-grown sample, showing a uniform morphology across a large area. The 70° tilted-view SEM image in Fig. 1(b) reveals symmetrical {111} faceting. A zoomed-in SEM image in Fig. 1(c) highlights the multi-QW active region. Notably, to enhance contrast, the InGaAs layers were selectively etched in a H2PO4:H2O2:H2O (3:1:50) solution. Five uniform InGaAs ridge QWs and the GaAs nucleation buffer are clearly identified

Single-mode photonic crystal nanobeam lasers monolithically grown on Si for dense integration

Ultra-compact III-V nanolasers monolithically integrated on Si with ultra-low energy consumption and small modal volume have been emerged as one of the most promising candidates to achieve Si on-chip light sources. However, the significant material dissimilarities between III-V and Si fundamentally limit the performance of Si-based III-V nanolasers. In this work, we report 1.3 m InAs/GaAs quantum-dot photonic-crystal (PhC) nanobeam lasers directly grown on complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor compatible on-axis Si (001) substrates. The continuous-wave optically pumped PhC nanobeam lasers exhibited a single-mode operation, with an ultra-low lasing threshold of ~ 0.8 W at room temperature. In addition, a nanoscale physical volume of ~ 8 0.53 0.36 m3 (~ 25 (n1)3) was realized through a small number of air-holes in PhC nanobeam laser. The promising characteristics of the PhC nanobeam lasers with small footprint and ultra-low energy consumption show their advanced potential towards densely integrated Si photonic integrated circuits

Deformed honeycomb lattices of InGaAs nanowires grown on silicon-on-insulator for photonic crystal surface-emitting lasers

Photonic crystals can be used to achieve high-performance surface-emitting lasers and enable novel photonic topological insulator devices. In this work, a GaAs/InGaAs heterojunction nanowire platform by selective area metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy for such applications is demonstrated. The nanowires are arranged into deformed honeycomb lattices on silicon-on-insulator substrate to exploit the quadrupolar photonic band-edge mode. Core-shell and axial heterostructures are formed with their crystalline properties studied by scanning transmission electron microscopy. Room-temperature, single mode lasing from both stretched and compressed honeycomb lattices within the telecom-O band, with lasing threshold as low as 1.25 μJ cm−2 is demonstrated. The potential of using InGaAs nanowire-based honeycomb lattices for small-divergence surface-emitting lasers and topological edge mode lasers is investigated. Finite-difference time-domain far field simulations suggest a sub-10° beam divergence can be achieved thanks to the out-of-plane diffraction

Hybrid integration methods for on-chip quantum photonics

The goal of integrated quantum photonics is to combine components for the generation, manipulation, and detection of nonclassical light in a phase-stable and efficient platform. Solid-state quantum emitters have recently reached outstanding performance as single-photon sources. In parallel, photonic integrated circuits have been advanced to the point that thousands of components can be controlled on a chip with high efficiency and phase stability. Consequently, researchers are now beginning to combine these leading quantum emitters and photonic integrated circuit platforms to realize the best properties of each technology. In this paper, we review recent advances in integrated quantum photonics based on such hybrid systems. Although hybrid integration solves many limitations of individual platforms, it also introduces new challenges that arise from interfacing different materials. We review various issues in solid-state quantum emitters and photonic integrated circuits, the hybrid integration techniques that bridge these two systems, and methods for chip-based manipulation of photons and emitters. Finally, we discuss the remaining challenges and future prospects of on-chip quantum photonics with integrated quantum emitters. (C) 2020 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreemen