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Integrated finely tunable microring laser on silicon

Nature Photonics volume 10, pages 719–722 (2016)Cite this article

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Abstract

Large-scale computer installations are severely limited by network-bandwidth constraints and energy costs that arise from architectural designs originally based on copper interconnects1. Wavelength-division multiplexed (WDM) photonic links can increase the network bandwidth but are sensitive to environmental perturbations and manufacturing imperfections that can affect the precise emission wavelength and output power of laser transmitters2,3. Here, we demonstrate a new design of a three-terminal hybrid III–V-on-silicon laser that integrates a metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) capacitor into the laser cavity. The MOS capacitor makes it possible to introduce the plasma-dispersion effect4 and thus change the laser modal refractive index and free-carrier absorption (FCA) loss to tune the laser wavelength and output power, respectively. The approach enables a highly energy efficient method to tune the output power and wavelength of microring lasers, with future prospects for high-speed, chirp-free direct laser modulation. The concept is potentially applicable to other diode laser platforms.

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Figure 1: The schematics of a hybrid MOS-type microring laser.
Figure 2: Proof-of-concept device simulation.
Figure 3: SEM images of the fabricated device.
Figure 4: Laser performance under different bias to MOS capacitor.
Figure 5: Thermal chirp correction demonstration in MOS-type microring lasers.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge K. Norris for the help in SEM imaging, S. Srinivasan, M. Piels, J. Doylend, B. Thibeault and C. Zhang for useful discussion in fabrication, and support from the nanofabrication facilities at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hewlett Packard Labs, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, 1501 Page Mill Road, Palo Alto, California 94304, USA

    D. Liang, X. Huang, G. Kurczveil, M. Fiorentino & R. G. Beausoleil

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  1. D. Liang
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  2. X. Huang
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  3. G. Kurczveil
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  4. M. Fiorentino
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  5. R. G. Beausoleil
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Contributions

D.L. conceived the idea, and led the simulation, fabrication and manuscript preparation. H.X. contributed to the modelling and fabrication and led the device characterization. G.K. contributed to the fabrication and testing platform set-up. M.F. and R.G.B. participated in the manuscript revision and high-level project supervision.

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Correspondence to D. Liang.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Liang, D., Huang, X., Kurczveil, G. et al. Integrated finely tunable microring laser on silicon. Nature Photon 10, 719–722 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2016.163

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