Silicon (Si) photonics has been developed as a platform integrated with many optical devices due to the high refractive index of Si and potential compatibility with the complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) process. Driven by the incredibly increased data capacity in data centers, the integration of optical circuits has attracted intense interest in datacom and telecom communication. Other applications, including sensing and optical metrology, have also been explored with photonic integrated circuits (PICs), leveraging the low-cost and compact fabrication of Si photonics. However, Si is not an ideal material for efficient light sources due to its indirect bandgap. Integration of III-V compound semiconductors on Si provides a potential solution to address this issue.

In this the...[ Read more ]

Silicon (Si) photonics has been developed as a platform integrated with many optical devices due to the high refractive index of Si and potential compatibility with the complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) process. Driven by the incredibly increased data capacity in data centers, the integration of optical circuits has attracted intense interest in datacom and telecom communication. Other applications, including sensing and optical metrology, have also been explored with photonic integrated circuits (PICs), leveraging the low-cost and compact fabrication of Si photonics. However, Si is not an ideal material for efficient light sources due to its indirect bandgap. Integration of III-V compound semiconductors on Si provides a potential solution to address this issue.

In this thesis, we investigated the growth of III-V quantum dot (QD)/ quantum dash (QDash) lasers on CMOS compatible (001) Si substrates. To provide a less defective growth front for the QD/QDash lasers, we studied the growth of high crystal quality GaAs and InP templates on Si. By changing the growth parameters of InAs QDash on the InP/Si template, we successfully shifted the emission wavelength of QDash from 1.55 μm to 1.3 μm for covering O- and C-band in the same material system. The room temperature pulse lasing of the 1.3 μm electrically pumped QDash lasers grown on (001) Si has been achieved. Then, we further optimized the QDash structures and the growth parameters of InAs QDash, which led to the room temperature continuous wave (CW) lasing of 1.55 μm electrically pumped QDash lasers grown on (001) Si.

On top of the GaAs/Si template, we investigated the InP QDs grown on Si, of which the emission wavelength covers red and near-infrared (NIR). An ultra-low threshold of 500 nW has been achieved on the optically pumped InP QD micro-disk lasers (MDLs) grown on (001) Si at room temperature. Combining the InP QD with the high-power GaAsP/AlGaAs QW, room temperature pulse lasing of the electrically pumped QD laser on (001) Si has been demonstrated.