EAGER: Monolithic III-Nitride Nanowire-Based 1.3 Micron Photonic Integrated Circuit on (001) Silicon

摘要：非技术项目描述：微电子芯片通常是由硅制成的，硅技术在过去几十年中发展迅速，主要是为了满足对更高的信息处理和传输速度的永不满足的需求。硅芯片上的电路由晶体管和无源元件组成，如电阻、电容器和电感，所有这些元件都与基于金属的线路互连，以执行放大和开关等功能。信息的传输通常是在芯片内以电子方式进行的，或者在芯片之间进行。很明显，由于阻性损耗，用电子携带信息会带来干扰、噪音和发热等问题。在芯片或芯片间传输信息的一种更有效和非破坏性的技术是光学通信，其中非干涉光子是信息的载体，它们的传播速度比电子快得多。这种光通信系统的基本元件是单片半导体激光器、波导和其他无源光子组件，以及光学探测器。由于硅不发光，激光器一直是绊脚石。可以选择外部激光器或在硅芯片上绑定二极管激光器，但这些都不是实用的技术。在拟议的项目中，我们将在硅上外延生长无缺陷的GaN基纳米线，并使用这种纳米线阵列作为有源半导体介质来实现发射波长为1.3微米的眼睛安全的二极管激光器。激光器将在硅芯片上完全单片。在这个项目中，我们将研究这些新型纳米线激光器的生长、设计和特性。我们还将研究在硅片上由纳米线激光器、介质波导和由相同纳米线阵列制成的探测器组成的完全单片光通信系统的设计和特性。将研究包括数据传输速度在内的操作特性。信息的处理和传输在我们的日常生活中无处不在，拟议项目的预期进展将与普通公众密切相关。该提案的主题涉及物理、化学、工程和数学，因此将与广泛的中小学生和未被充分代表的少数民族的教育相关。技术项目描述：本研究的目标是探索在(001)硅衬底上工作在1.3µm、适用于硅光子学的GaN基纳米线单片光子集成电路的设计、制造和特性。纳米线将通过分子束外延在硅上生长，纳米线二极管激光器将与二氧化硅波导和纳米线探测器集成在芯片上。将对光通信系统进行详细的描述。其智能意义在于提出并实现了基于III-氮化物纳米线的单片式边发射1.3m半导体激光器和硅基导波探测器，并将它们与无源波导集成在一起形成光子集成电路。这项研究将包括纳米线的广泛生长和表征，以及纳米线激光器和探测器的理论建模。单片半导体激光器，最终是光子集成电路，在(001)硅平台上，工作在1.3？m，对于硅光子学和其他通信应用很重要，但目前还不存在。更广泛的影响是这项研究的跨学科性质及其本科生和代表性不足的少数群体以及K-12的推广。教育和人力资源开发(EHRD)的主要目标是提供有效的方案，教育参与研究和推广方案的学生有关光子材料的科学和技术，这被视为国家重要的问题。

Title: SILICON CHIP WITH ONBOARD OPTICAL DEVICES FOR FASTER TRANSMISSION OF INFORMATIONAbstract:Nontechnical Project Description: Microelectronic chips are commonly made of silicon and silicon technology has rapidly progressed over the last several decades primarily to meet the insatiable demand for higher information processing and transmission speeds. The circuits on a silicon chip consist of transistors and passive elements such as resistors, capacitors and inductors, all interconnected with metal-based lines to perform functions such as amplification and switching. The transmission of information has generally been done electronically within the chip, or from chip to chip. It has become evident that carrying information with electrons poses problems of interference, noise and heating due to resistive losses. A more efficient and non-destructive technique to transmit information on a chip or inter-chip is optical communication, where non-interfering photons are the carriers of information and they travel much faster than electrons. The essential elements of such an optical communication system are a monolithic diode laser, waveguides and other passive photonic components, and an optical detector. The stumbling block has been the laser, since silicon does not emit light. External lasers or bonding of diode lasers on the silicon chip are options, but these are not practical technologies. In the proposed project we will epitaxially grow defect-free gallium nitride-based nanowires on silicon and use such nanowire arrays as the active semiconducting medium to realize diode lasers that emit at 1.3ìm to be eye safe. The lasers will be completely monolithic on the silicon chip. In this project, we will investigate the growth, design and characteristics of these novel nanowire lasers. We will also investigate the design and characteristics of a completely monolithic optical communication system on a silicon chip consisting of the nanowire laser, a dielectric waveguide and a detector made with the same nanowire array. The operating characteristics, including the speed of data transmission, will be investigated. The processing and transmission of information are ubiquitous in our daily lives and the expected progress in the proposed project will be extremely relevant to the general public. The subject of the proposal involves physics, chemistry, engineering and mathematics and will therefore be relevant to the education of a broad spectrum of school and college students and underrepresented minorities.Technical Project Description: The goal of this research is to explore the design, fabrication and characteristics of a GaN-based nanowire monolithic photonic integrated circuit on (001) silicon substrate operating at 1.3ìm and suitable for silicon photonics. The nanowires will be grown by molecular beam epitaxy on silicon and the nanowire diode laser will be integrated on-chip with a Si02 waveguide and nanowire detector. The optical communication system will be characterized in detail. The intellectual significance is the conception and realization of III-Nitride nanowire based monolithic edge-emitting 1.3 ìm diode laser and guided wave detector on silicon and their integration with passive waveguides to form a photonic integrated circuit. The proposed research will include extensive growth and characterization of nanowires and theoretical modeling of the nanowire lasers and detectors.A monolithic diode laser, and ultimately a photonic integrated circuit, on a (001) silicon platform and operating at 1.3 ìm is important for silicon photonics and other communications applications, but does not exist at the present time. The broader impacts are the interdisciplinary nature of the research and its undergraduate and underrepresented minorities and K-12 outreach. The principal goal in Education and Human Resource Development (EHRD) is to provide effective programs to educate the students involved in the research and outreach program constituents on the science and technology of photonic materials, regarded as an issue of national importance.