Direct integration of microtube lasers on silicon

对于可以直接与硅集成电路集成的半导体激光器存在非常高的需求。这些设备将被要求具有非常低的功耗，应该是低成本的，可靠的，并在工作温度的大的变化是宽容的。这些设备将应用于未来的电信和计算系统，包括服务器群、网络集线器，并最终应用于个人计算机和个人多媒体娱乐系统。集成的半导体激光器将允许直接连接到高带宽光纤数据链路。迄今为止，已经调查的候选技术中没有一种被证明是理想的。在这个项目中，我们建议研究我们最近展示的独立InGaAs/GaAs量子点（QD）微管相干光源直接在硅上的集成，以开发电调制激光器。这些器件具有许多吸引人的特性，包括超低的阈值电流和简单的制作。该技术也有可能提供可调谐激光器，用于密集或粗波分复用系统。该项目代表了三位具有互补技能和背景的学术研究人员与加拿大初创公司Reflex Photonics之间的合作，该公司正在领导低成本并行光学数据链技术的开发。该项目还将涉及一位国际领先的硅光子学专家（康奈尔大学的M.Lipson）的合作。该项目将为七名研究生和九名本科生提供对加拿大具有重大战略意义的领域的实践培训。

There is a very high demand for semiconductor lasers that can be integrated directly with silicon integrated circuits. These devices will be required to have very low power dissipation, should be low cost, reliable and be tolerant of large variations in operating temperature. The application of these devices will be in future telecommunications and computing systems, including server farms, network hubs and eventually in personal computers and personal multimedia entertainment systems. The integrated semiconductor lasers will allow direct connection to high bandwidth optical fibre data links. To date none of the candidate technologies that has been investigated has proved to be ideal. In this project we propose to investigate the integration of our recently demonstrated freestanding InGaAs/GaAs quantum dot (QD) microtube coherent light sources directly on silicon, in order to develop electrically modulated lasers. These devices have many attractive properties, including ultralow threshold currents, and simple fabrication. This technology also has the potential to deliver tunable lasers for applications in either dense or coarse wavelength division multiplexing systems. This project represents a collaboration between three academic researchers with complementary skill sets and backgrounds, and a Canadian start-up company, Reflex Photonics, which is leading the development of low cost, parallel optical data link technology. The project will also involve the collaboration of a leading international expert in silicon photonics (M.Lipson of Cornell University). The project will provide hands-on training to seven graduate students and nine undergraduate students in a field which is of significant strategic importance to Canada.