Quantum cascade lasers grown on silicon.

Area of Science:

• Optoelectronics
• Materials Science
• Semiconductor Physics

Background:

• Industry demands efficient integration of III-V semiconductor lasers with silicon electronics for compact spectroscopic systems.
• Current integration methods include heterogeneous bonding and direct epitaxial growth of interband lasers, but intersubband emitters on silicon remain undemonstrated.

Purpose of the Study:

• To report the first demonstration of quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) directly grown on silicon substrates.
• To evaluate the performance of these novel silicon-integrated QCLs.

Main Methods:

• Direct epitaxial growth of InAs/AlSb quantum cascade lasers on silicon substrates.
• Characterization of laser performance and emission wavelength.

Main Results:

• Successfully fabricated and demonstrated the first InAs/AlSb quantum cascade lasers directly grown on silicon.
• These QCLs exhibit high performance comparable to devices grown on native InAs substrates.
• The lasers emit at approximately 11 µm, representing the longest emission wavelength for any laser integrated on silicon.

Conclusions:

• This breakthrough enables the development of a wide range of integrated sensors leveraging the unique properties of III-V semiconductor lasers on silicon platforms.
• The direct growth of high-performance QCLs on silicon overcomes previous limitations and opens new avenues for optoelectronic integration.