Advances in small lasers

M.T.H was supported by an Australian Research council Future Fellowship research grant for this work. M.C.G. is grateful to the Scottish Funding Council (via SUPA) for financial support.Small lasers have dimensions or modes sizes close to or smaller than the wavelength of emitted light. In recent years there has been significant progress towards reducing the size and improving the characteristics of these devices. This work has been led primarily by the innovative use of new materials and cavity designs. This Review summarizes some of the latest developments, particularly in metallic and plasmonic lasers, improvements in small dielectric lasers, and the emerging area of small bio-compatible or bio-derived lasers. We examine the different approaches employed to reduce size and how they result in significant differences in the final device, particularly between metal- and dielectric-cavity lasers. We also present potential applications for the various forms of small lasers, and indicate where further developments are required.PostprintPeer reviewe

Indium phosphide (InP) for optical interconnects

We present InP as the incumbent technology for data center transceiver and switching optics. We review the most popular InP monolithic integration approaches in light of photonic integration being recognized as an increasingly important technology for data center optics. We present Multi-Guide Vertical Integration by OneChip Photonics as an example of a low-cost InP integration platform, showcased for 100GE transceiver optics, and we also review optical switching technology and present highly integrated InP optical switches developed at the COBRA Research Institute. We compare InP to the competing Si photonics technology, where we argue that Si photonics is a cost-competitive technology, but only for very large volumes, which are not yet representative of the data center market of today and in the near future. We conclude by pinpointing the future trends for the optics in data centers, including the increased level of optics/electronics integration, the increased use of spin-coated polymer devices, and novel heterogeneous integration by flip-chip bonding of separately fabricated InP and Si chips, as an alternative to the more challenging, full monolithic InP integratio