HKUST team develop III-V and silicon coupling technique
Epitaxy method can selectively grow III-V materials SOI in a lateral direction without thick buffers
Researchers at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) have developed a new technique for integrating III-V compound semiconductor devices and silicon, paving the way for photonic integration at low cost, large volume, and high speed for data comms.
The team, led by Ying Xue (pictured above) and Kei May Lay, developed a technique called lateral aspect ratio trapping (LART) – a novel selective direct epitaxy method that can selectively grow III-V materials on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) in a lateral direction without the need for thick buffers.
Their method achieved an in-plane III-V laser, so that the III-V laser can couple with Si in the same plane.
“Our approach addressed the mismatch of III-V devices and Si. It achieved excellent performance of III-V devices and made it easy and efficient to couple III-V with Si,” Xue said.
In the next steps, the team plans to show that III-V lasers integrated with silicon waveguides can perform well, as in having a low threshold, high output power, long lifetime, and the ability to operate at high temperatures.
There are key scientific challenges to address before this technique could be used in real life, she said. But it will enable new-generation communications and various emerging applications and research areas, including supercomputers, artificial intelligence (AI), biomedicine, automotive applications, and neural and quantum networks.
Reference
'In-Plane 1.5 µm Distributed Feedback Lasers Selectively Grown on (001) SOI' by Ying Xue et al; Laser Photonics Rev. 18(1)/2024)
