Regensburg 2010 – scientific programme

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HL: Fachverband Halbleiterphysik

HL 42: Focussed Session: Silicon Photonics

HL 42.6: Invited Talk

Wednesday, March 24, 2010, 16:45–17:15, H13

A Germanium Laser on Silicon — •Jurgen Michel, Jifeng Liu, Lionel C. Kimerling, Xiaochen Sun, and Rodolfo Camacho — Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

Lasers on silicon are one of the most crucial components for silicon-based electronic-photonic integration. Epitaxial Ge-on-Si is a particularly interesting candidate due to its pseudo-direct band gap behavior and its compatibility with advanced electronic devices on Si. Integrated photonic devices such as waveguide-coupled photodetectors and electro-absorption modulators have already been demonstrated based on the direct band gap transition of Ge. Our theoretical analysis has shown that Ge can be band-engineered by tensile strain and n-type doping to achieve efficient light emission and optical gain from its direct gap transition. Indeed, direct gap photoluminescence (PL) and electroluminescence (EL) at room temperature have already been demonstrated from these band engineered Ge-on-Si materials. We will present the experimental observation of optical gain and lasing in epitaxial tensile strained n+ Ge-on-Si at room temperature. Lasing has been achieved by pumping a Ge waveguide with nanosecond pulses from an NdYAG laser at 1064nm.