硅基量子点激光器研究进展

Research Progress on Silicon-based Quantum Dot Lasers

随着全球数据流量的不断增长,硅基光子集成电路已经成为高性能芯片内/芯片间光通信领域中一个极具发展潜力的研究方向。然而,由于本征硅的发光效率极低,硅基片上光源成为光子集成电路中最具挑战性的元器件。为了解决缺乏原生光源的问题,硅基集成的Ⅲ-Ⅴ族半导体激光器已经得到了广泛研究,该激光器提供了优越的光学和电学性能。值得注意的是,在Ⅲ-Ⅴ族半导体激光器中使用量子点作为增益介质已经引起了诸多关注,因为它具有多种优点,如对晶体缺陷的容忍度高、温度敏感度低、阈值电流密度低和反射灵敏度低等。使用量子点的激光增益区在光子集成方面相比量子阱有许多改进。增益带宽可以根据需要进行设计优化,并在整个近红外光范围内实现激射。量子态与周围材料的大能级分离使其获得了优异的高温性能和亚皮秒时间尺度的增益恢复。本文从量子点材料及量子点激光器、基于晶圆键合技术、基于倒装键合技术、基于直接外延生长技术等多个角度,综述了硅基Ⅲ-Ⅴ族半导体量子点激光器的最新研究进展,并对其未来前景和挑战进行了探讨。

With the continuous growth of global data traffic,silicon-based photonic integrated circuits have become an up-and-coming solution in the field of high-performance intra-chip/inter-chip optical communications.However,due to silicons extremely low intrinsic luminescence efficiency,on-chip light sources have become the most challeng⁃ing components in photonic integrated circuits.To address the lack of native light sources,silicon-integratedⅢ-Ⅴsemiconductor lasers have been extensively studied,which offer superior optical and electrical performance.Nota⁃bly,using quantum dots as the gain medium inⅢ-Ⅴsemiconductor lasers has garnered much attention due to sever⁃al advantages,such as high tolerance to crystal defects,high temperature insensitivity,low threshold current density and low reflection sensitivity,etc.Using quantum dots in the laser gain region brings many improvements in photonic integration compared to quantum wells.The gain bandwidth can be designed to be optimized as needed and enable lasing over the entire near-infrared range.The large energy level separation between quantum states and the sur⁃rounding material gives them excellent high-temperature performance and sub-picosecond timescale gain recovery.This paper provides a comprehensive review of the latest research progress on silicon-basedⅢ-Ⅴsemiconductor quan⁃tum dot lasers from various perspectives,including quantum dot materials and quantum dot lasers based on wafer bonding technology,flip-chip bonding technology,and direct epitaxial growth technology,and discusses their pros⁃pects and challenges.