(Invited) Heterogeneously Integrated III-V on Silicon Lasers

Abstract

Silicon photonics has generated an outstanding interest for optical telecommunications and inter/intra-chip interconnects in microelectronic systems. This platform can address a wide range of applications from very short distance data communication to long haul optical transmission. Silicon-based compounds are commonly used in commercial optical waveguide devices for applications such as passive optical interconnects and biomedical sensors. However, the integration of lasers together with Si integrated photonics-electronic circuits has proved to be much more challenging. The complexity lies in the fact that silicon is a poor light-emitting material due to its indirect energy bandgap. A particularly promising approach is based on molecular bonding of III-V materials on top of a patterned Si-on-insulator (SOI) substrate. Hybrid Si/III-V lasers are then realized following a collective fabrication procedure, enabling complex photonic integrated systems onto the silicon platform. In this communication, we describe the hybrid platform and we present the recent advances on III-V/Si lasers and transmitters.