NIRT: Photonic Crystal Laser Technology Based on Nanostructured Active Material

这项提案是应“纳米科学与工程”(NSF 00-119)的征集而提交的。该项目的目标是开发激光和光电子器件技术，实现光子和电子的限制，以产生0维态，基于纳米光刻和干法刻蚀的进展，以制造包含自组织量子点的纳米晶体。将半导体激光器的体积减小到其最小尺寸，同时保持高Q值，同时降低电子限制势，可能会导致器件操作的革命性进步。这包括阈值以下和阈值下的高速操作，以及阈值以下自发机制的高效率。在小激活体积和足够高Q的极限下，系统可以进入产生量子纠缠态所必需的量子可逆区。使用III-V纳米结构活性材料和纳米结构光子晶体，光子和电子-空穴对的这些量子极限都是可能的。这些研究将采用分子束外延生长的GaAs/AlGaAs/InGaAs应变层异质结材料，并将其制成光子晶体激光器和微腔。III-V异质结将在德克萨斯大学/奥斯汀微电子研究中心生长，光子晶体制造将在加州理工学院(CIT)和德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校进行。根据CIT将进行的研究，III-V纳米结构将针对高速运行进行优化。可制造的纳米光刻工艺将在德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校开发。攻读博士学位的研究生研究助理是这项研究的主要组成部分。这项研究的预期影响是开发一种适用于波分复用的低功率、高速光电互连和用于光互连的低功率收发器的新技术，以及用于量子信息交换的新器件。该项目解决了材料科学中具有高度技术相关性的热门领域中的基础材料科学和工程研究问题。该计划的一个重要特点是通过在一个具有根本意义和技术意义的领域对学生进行培训，将研究和教育结合起来。该项目将通过协作的前沿研究环境提供独特的教育体验，培养学生强大的技术、沟通和组织/管理技能。该项目由DMR/EM、ECS/PFET和EEC部门共同支持。*

This proposal was submitted in response to the solicitation "Nanoscale Science and Engineering" (NSF 00-119). The goal of this project is to develop laser and optoelectronic device technologies that achieve photon and electron confinement to generate 0-dimensional states, based on advances in nanolithography and dry etching to fabricate nanocrystals containing self-organized quantum dots. A decrease of a semiconductor laser's volume to its minimum size, while maintaining high Q, along with a decrease in the electronic confinement potential, may result in revolutionary advances in device operation. These include high-speed operation below and at threshold, and high efficiency in the spontaneous regime below threshold. In the ultimate limits of small active volume and sufficiently high Q the system can enter the quantum reversible regime necessary to create quantum-entangled states. Both these quantum limits of the photons and electron-hole pairs are possible using III-V nanostructured active material and nanostructured photonic crystals. The materials to be employed in these studies will be GaAs/AlGaAs/InGaAs strained layer heterostructures grown by molecular beam epitaxy, which will be fabricated into photonic crystal lasers and microcavities. The III-V heterostructures will be grown at the University of Texas/Austin Microelectronics Research Center, and photonic crystal fabrication will take place at the California Institute of Technology(CIT) and at UT-Austin. The III-V nanostructures will be optimized for high-speed operation based on studies to be carried out at CIT. Manufacturable processes for the nanolithography will be developed at UT-Austin. Graduate research assistants working towards Ph.D. degrees represent a major component of this research. The expected impact of the research is the development of a new technology for low power, high speed optoelectronic interconnects suitable for wavelength division multiplexing and low power transceivers for optical interconnects, and new devices useful for exchange of quantum information. %%% The project addresses basic materials science and engineering research issues in a topical area of materials science with high technological relevance. An important feature of the program is the integration of research and education through the training of students in a fundamentally and technologically significant area. The project will develop strong technical, communication, and organizational/management skills in students through unique educational experiences made possible by a collaborative forefront research environment. The project is co-supported by the DMR/EM, ECS/PFET, and EEC Divisions.***