O-Band Monolithic Quantum Dot Semiconductor Optical Amplifier on COMS-Compatible Silicon

博士候选人的愿景是通过外延生长方法在硅衬底上开发世界上第一个半导体光放大器（SOA）。该EPSRC DTP学生奖学金旨在共同研究量子点（QD）增益区技术，先进的外延和高端纳米制造技术，以开发在互补金属氧化物半导体（CMOS）兼容的轴上硅（001）衬底上单片生长的InAs QD SOA，用于硅光子学。与传统的基于原生衬底的SOA或使用倒装芯片键合或晶片键合的基于Si的III-V SOA相比，所提出的方法从根本上不同，因为博士候选人的目标是直接在CMOS兼容硅（001）上开发高性能III-V SOA，开辟了实现高产率的可能性，利用CMOS工业开发的成熟制造工具和工艺，低成本和大规模硅基光子集成电路（PIC）。拟议的研究涉及36个月的实验研究，在那里，EPSRC DTP博士生将接受培训，以进行建模，大部分设备制造和表征，以及分析工作。该主题是基于硅的信息和通信技术（ICT）研究，这是现代数据革命的核心，并解决了EPSRC跨ICT优先事项2017 - 2020，并适合跨ICT领域，跨学科和共同创造。不应低估该提案的重要性;如果该提案中讨论的研究挑战/目标没有实现，硅基PIC将无法充分发挥其预测的潜力。

The PhD candidate's vision is to develop the world's first semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) on silicon substrates by epitaxial growth methods. This EPSRC DTP studentship award aims to jointly investigate quantum dot (QD) gain region technology, advanced epitaxy and high-end nano-fabrication techniques to develop InAs QD SOAs monolithically grown on complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS)-compatible on-axis silicon (001) substrates for silicon photonics. In contrast to conventional native substrates based SOAs or Si-based III-V SOAs using either flip-chip bonding or wafer bonding, the proposed method is fundamentally different, since the PhD candidate aims to develop high-performance III-V SOAs directly on CMOS-compatible silicon (001), opening up the possibility to achieve high-yield, low-cost and large-scale silicon-based photonic integrated circuits (PICs) by leveraging the mature fabrication tools and processes developed by the CMOS industry.The proposed study concerns a 36-month experimental study, where the EPSRC DTP PhD student be trained to undertake modelling, most of the device fabrication and characterisation, and analysis work. The topic is within the silicon-based Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Research, which is at the heart of the modern data revolution and addresses the EPSRC Cross-ICT Priorities 2017 - 2020 and fits the Cross-ICT areas, Cross-Disciplinary and Co-Creation. The significance of this proposal should not be underestimated; if the research challenges/objectives discussed in this proposal are not fulfilled, silicon-based PICs will not reach its full potential that is predicted.