A novel laser that utilizes a silicon waveguide bonded to AlGaInAs quantum wells is demonstrated. This wafer scale fabrication approach allows the optical waveguide to be defined by CMOS-compatible silicon processing while optical gain is provided by III-V materials. The AlGaInAs quantum well structure is bonded to the silicon wafer using low temperature oxygen plasma-assisted wafer bonding. The optically pumped 1538 nm laser has a pulsed threshold of 30 mW and an output power of 1.4 mW. (c) 2005 Optical Society of America.

We present the design and fabrication of a novel laser structure, the hybrid silicon evanescent laser. This structure utilizes offset AlGaInAs quantum wells (QWs) bonded to a silicon waveguide. With this structure, the optical mode is predominantly confined in the passive silicon waveguide and is evanescently coupled to the AlGaInAs strained QWs. The optimal design of the optical waveguide for delivering sufficient optical gain to reach the lasing threshold, while confining most of the optical mode in the silicon waveguide, for efficiently coupling the output power into silicon passive devices, is described. The silicon waveguide is fabricated on a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer using a CMOS-compatible process, and is subsequently bonded with the AlGaInAs QW structure using low temperature O2 plasma-assisted wafer bonding. We demonstrate optically pumped silicon evanescent lasers operating continuous wave (CW) up to 60 C. The lasers emit a wavelength of 1.5 um with a minimum threshold of 23 mW and a maximum single-sided fiber-coupled CW output power of 4.5 mW at the room temperature.

We report a novel laser architecture, the hybrid silicon evanescent laser (SEL), that utilizes offset AlGaInAs quantum wells (QWs) bonded to a silicon waveguide. The silicon waveguide is fabricated on a silicon-on-insulator wafer using a complimentary metal-oxide-semiconductor-compatible process, and is subsequently bonded with the AlGaInAs QW structure using low temperature 02 plasma-assisted wafer bonding. The optical mode in the SEL is predominantly confined in the passive silicon waveguide and evanescently couples into the III-V active region providing optical gain. The SEL lases continuous wave (CW) at 1568 nm with a threshold of 23 mW. The maximum temperature for CW operation is 60 degrees C. The maximum single-sided fiber-coupled CW output power at room temperature is 4.5 mW.

We present the design and fabrication of a novel laser structure, the hybrid silicon evanescent laser. This structure utilizes offset AlGaInAs quantum wells (QWs) bonded to a silicon waveguide. With this structure, the optical mode is predominantly confined in the passive silicon waveguide and is evanescently coupled to the AlGaInAs strained QWs. The optimal design of the optical waveguide for delivering sufficient optical gain to reach the lasing threshold, while confining most of the optical mode in the silicon waveguide, for efficiently coupling the output power into silicon passive devices, is described. The silicon waveguide is fabricated on a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer using a CMOS-compatible process, and is subsequently bonded with the AlGaInAs QW structure using low temperature O-2 plasma-assisted wafer bonding. We demonstrate optically pumped silicon evanescent lasers operating continuous wave (CW) up to 60 degrees C. The lasers emit a wavelength of 1.5 mu m with a minimum threshold of 23 mW and a maximum single-sided fiber-coupled CW output power of 4.5 mW at the room temperature.