Integration of hybrid silicon lasers and electroabsorption modulators.

We present an integration platform based on quantum well intermixing for multi-section hybrid silicon lasers and electroabsorption modulators. As a demonstration of the technology, we have fabricated discrete sampled grating DBR lasers and sampled grating DBR lasers integrated with InGaAsP/InP electroabsorption modulators. The integrated sampled grating DBR laser-modulators use the as-grown III-V bandgap for optical gain, a 50 nm blue shifted bandgap for the electrabosprtion modulators, and an 80 nm blue shifted bandgap for low loss mirrors. Laser continuous wave operation up to 45 ?C is achieved with output power >1.0 mW and threshold current of <50 mA. The modulator bandwidth is >2GHz with 5 dB DC extinction.

Raman amplification of 40 Gb/s data in low-loss silicon waveguides.

We demonstrate on-chip Raman amplification of an optical data signal at 40 Gb/s in a silicon-on-insulator p-i-n rib waveguide. Using 230 mW of coupled pump power, on/off gain of up to 2.3 dB is observed, while signal integrity is maintained. In addition, the gain is measured as a function of signal wavelength detuning from the Stokes wavelength. The Lorentzian linewidth of the Raman gain profile is determined to be approximately 80 GHz. This provides applicability for the selective amplification of individual DWDM optical channels.

Integrated AlGaInAs-silicon evanescent race track laser and photodetector.

Here we report a racetrack resonator laser integrated with two photo-detectors on the hybrid AlGaInAs-silicon evanescent device platform. Unlike previous demonstrations of hybrid AlGaInAs-silicon evanescent lasers, we demonstrate an on-chip racetrack resonator laser that does not rely on facet polishing and dicing in order to define the laser cavity. The laser runs continuous-wave (c.w.) at 1590 nm with a threshold of 175 mA, has a maximum total output power of 29 mW and a maximum operating temperature of 60 C. The output of this laser light is directly coupled into a pair of on chip hybrid AlGaInAs-silicon evanescent photodetectors used to measure the laser output.

A hybrid AlGaInAs-silicon evanescent waveguide photodetector.

We report a waveguide photodetector utilizing a hybrid waveguide structure consisting of AlGaInAs quantum wells bonded to a silicon waveguide. The light in the hybrid waveguide is absorbed by the AlGaInAs quantum wells under reverse bias. The photodetector has a fiber coupled responsivity of 0.31 A/W with an internal quantum efficiency of 90 % over the 1.5 mum wavelength range. This photodetector structure can be integrated with silicon evanescent lasers for power monitors or integrated with silicon evanescent amplifiers for preamplified receivers.

1310nm silicon evanescent laser.

We report the first 1310 nm hybrid laser on a silicon substrate. This laser operates continuous wave (C.W.) up to 105 degrees C. The room temperature threshold current of this laser is 30 mA, and the maximum single sided fiber-coupled output power is 5.5 mW.

Experimental and theoretical thermal analysis of a Hybrid Silicon Evanescent Laser.

In this work we present both experimental and theoretical thermal analysis of an electrically pumped hybrid silicon evanescent laser. Measurements of an 850 mum long Fabry-Perot structure show an overall characteristic temperature of 51 oC, an above threshold characteristic temperature of 100 oC, and a thermal impedance of 41.8 oC/W. Finite element analysis of the laser structure predicts a thermal impedance of 43.5 oC/W, which is within 5% of the experimental results. Using the overall characteristic temperature, above threshold characteristic temperature, and the measured thermal impedance, the continuous wave output power vs. current from the laser is simulated and is in good agreement with experiment.

Silicon photonic tunable optical dispersion compensator.

A silicon photonic tunable optical dispersion compensator (TODC) is demonstrated based on a series of 5 thermally tunable Mach- Zehnder interferometers. The TODC has a 2.8mm x 5.0 mm foot-print with continuously tunable dispersion from 0ps/nm to 2000ps/nm with a low tuning power of 80mW. This TODC is used to extend the reach of a 10Gb/s link from 85km to 150km.

Monolithic integrated Raman silicon laser.

We present a monolithic integrated Raman silicon laser based on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) rib waveguide race-track ring resonator with an integrated p-i-n diode structure. Under reverse biasing, we achieved stable, single mode, continuous-wave (CW) lasing with output power exceeding 30mW and 10% slope efficiency. The laser emission has high spectral purity with a measured side mode suppression exceeding 70dB and laser linewidth of <100 kHz. This laser architecture allows for on-chip integration with other silicon photonics components to provide a highly integrated and scaleable monolithic device.