Optically pumped 13  μm room-temperature InAs quantum-dot micro-disk lasers directly grown on (001) silicon

Abstract

Direct integration of high-performance laser diodes on silicon will dramatically transform the world of photonics, expediting the progress toward low-cost and compact photonic integrated circuits (PICs) on the mainstream silicon platform. Here, we report, to the best of our knowledge, the first 1.3 μm room-temperature continuous-wave InAs quantum-dot micro-disk lasers epitaxially grown on industrial-compatible Si (001) substrates without offcut. The lasing threshold is as low as hundreds of microwatts, similar to the thresholds of identical lasers grown on a GaAs substrate. The heteroepitaxial structure employed here does not require the use of an absorptive germanium buffer and/or dislocation filter layers, both of which impede the efficient coupling of light from the laser active regions to silicon waveguides. This allows for full compatibility with the extensive silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology. The large-area virtual GaAs (on Si) substrates can be directly adopted in various mature in-plane laser configurations, both optically and electrically. Thus, this demonstration represents a major advancement toward the commercial success of fully integrated silicon photonics.

Epitaxial growth of highly mismatched III-V materials on (001) silicon for electronics and optoelectronics

“…The GoVS templates provide opportunities for integration of electronic, photonic, or photovoltaic devices on Si wafers. InAs/GaAs QD structures grown on the GoVS template show superior optical properties as compared to those grown on planar offcut Si [140], while optically pumped microdisk lasers fabricated on the GoVS templates exhibit promisingly low threshold lasing characteristics [141][142][143]. Electrically injected, Fabry-Perot, QD ridge lasers on the GoVS templates were also reported, showing CW operation up to 80°C, with threshold currents as low as 37 mA [105].…”

Temperature characteristics of epitaxially grown InAs quantum dot micro-disk lasers on silicon for on-chip light sources

“…6 In this work, we systematically characterize the lasing behavior of the MDLs, including threshold, lasing wavelength, slope efficiency, and mode linewidth, as a function of temperature. We have obtained an excellent characteristic temperature T o of 105 K for the epitaxially grown MDLs on Si, which outperform previously reported InAs quantum dot micro-disk lasers on GaAs substrates.…”

Novel Light Source Integration Approaches for Silicon Photonics

“…Therefore, although being investigated over several decades, not much progress has been reported until this topic regained momentum a few years ago, driven by the big investments of the electronics industry in developing high‐mobility channel materials for next generation transistors. Consequently, considerable progress has been made in the last few years . The community currently is embracing the insertion of quantum dot III‐V active regions for both dislocation filtering and as advanced gain material.…”