Integrated Rare Earth Lasers for Silicon Photonics

激光和光子器件在许多关键方面影响了我们的生活，包括实现为互联网提供燃料的高速光波信号。现在，经过几十年的研究，所谓的“硅光子学”有望通过降低成本、提高性能和可扩展性来显著推进互联网和数据通信。硅光子学（SiP）利用现有的数十亿美元的微电子制造基础设施，提供高度紧凑，廉价和节能的集成光电微系统。由于SiP在高速光电子数据网络中的应用不断增长，预计未来十年SiP市场将增加到B美元。此外，SiP有望在传感、成像、测距、医疗以及先进的军事和空间应用中无处不在。 然而，SiP系统中的关键缺失元素之一仍然是单片激光器。硅和SiP兼容材料（即，可以单片集成在硅芯片上的那些材料，例如氮化硅和锗）在光电电路中提供许多所需的功能，包括信号传输、开关、调制、滤波、多路复用和检测。然而，人们早就认识到硅是一种低效的光发射体。目前，SiP微系统依赖于片外激光器或将昂贵的材料粘合到硅上来提供光。高效的片上单片可扩展光源将对SiP的未来应用产生巨大影响。 在本研究项目中，我们将开发新的发光稀土掺杂光子材料和第一个完全集成的硅光子学稀土激光器。SiP稀土激光器的优点，除了它们的低成本和单片制造之外，还包括它们的高功率、紧凑尺寸、温度不敏感性、高稳定性以及在重要的通信和传感窗口中的宽范围的发射波长和波长可调谐性。通过将基于这些低成本材料的激光器集成到晶圆级硅工艺中，我们将提高其可扩展性，并为SiP微系统提供全新的功能，这些功能目前使用更昂贵或笨重的光学平台来执行。这项研究将导致高素质人才（HQP）的专业培训，对不断增长的SiP行业和信息技术产生重大影响，并提高加拿大的整体高科技专业知识。通过在加拿大开发激光器，我们将继续保持加拿大在先进通信和光子技术方面的领导地位。我们将在先进的SiP微系统中实现用于通信，传感和新兴应用的方法和设备，以满足社会日益增长的信息和技术需求。

Lasers and photonic devices have influenced our lives in many critical ways, including enabling the high speed lightwave signals that fuel the internet. Now, after decades of research, so-called “silicon photonics” is poised to significantly advance internet and data communication through decreased cost and increased performance and scalability. Silicon photonics (SiP) leverages the existing multi-billion-dollar microelectronics fabrication infrastructure to provide highly compact, inexpensive, and energy-efficient integrated optoelectronic microsystems. As a result of its growing application in high-speed optoelectronic data networks, the SiP market is expected to increase to several $B in the next decade. Further, SiP promises to be ubiquitous in sensing, imaging, ranging, medical, and advanced military and space applications. Nevertheless, one of the key missing elements in SiP systems remains a monolithic laser. Silicon and SiP-compatible materials (i.e. those which can be monolithically integrated on silicon chips such as silicon nitride and germanium) provide many of the required functions in optoelectronic circuits, including signal transmission, switching, modulation, filtering, multiplexing, and detection. However, it has long been recognized that silicon is an inefficient light emitter. Currently SiP microsystems rely on off-chip lasers or bonding costly materials to silicon to deliver light. An efficient on-chip, monolithic, and scalable light source will have an enormous impact on future applications of SiP. In this research project we will develop new light-emitting rare-earth-doped photonic materials and the first fully-integrated rare earth lasers for silicon photonics. Advantages of SiP rare earth lasers, in addition to their low cost and monolithic fabrication, include their high powers, compact size, temperature insensitivity, high stability, and wide range of emission wavelengths and wavelength tunability in important communications and sensing windows. By integrating lasers based on these low-cost materials into wafer-scale silicon processes we will increase their scalability and open entirely new functions of SiP microsystems that are currently performed using more expensive or bulky optical platforms. This research will lead to specialized training of highly qualified people (HQP), have a significant impact on the growing SiP industry and information technology, and enhance overall high-tech expertise in Canada. By developing the lasers in Canada, we will continue Canada's leadership in advanced communications and photonics technologies. We will implement the methods and devices in advanced SiP microsystems for communications, sensing, and emerging applications to meet the growing information and technology needs of society.