EAGER: Monolithic III-Nitride Nanowire-Based 1.3 Micron Photonic Integrated Circuit on (001) Silicon

Regents Of The University Of Michigan - Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor MI

Investigators

Abstract

Title: SILICON CHIP WITH ONBOARD OPTICAL DEVICES FOR FASTER TRANSMISSION OF INFORMATION Abstract: Nontechnical Project Description: Microelectronic chips are commonly made of silicon and silicon technology has rapidly progressed over the last several decades primarily to meet the insatiable demand for higher information processing and transmission speeds. The circuits on a silicon chip consist of transistors and passive elements such as resistors, capacitors and inductors, all interconnected with metal-based lines to perform functions such as amplification and switching. The transmission of information has generally been done electronically within the chip, or from chip to chip. It has become evident that carrying information with electrons poses problems of interference, noise and heating due to resistive losses. A more efficient and non-destructive technique to transmit information on a chip or inter-chip is optical communication, where non-interfering photons are the carriers of information and they travel much faster than electrons. The essential elements of such an optical communication system are a monolithic diode laser, waveguides and other passive photonic components, and an optical detector. The stumbling block has been the laser, since silicon does not emit light. External lasers or bonding of diode lasers on the silicon chip are options, but these are not practical technologies. In the proposed project we will epitaxially grow defect-free gallium nitride-based nanowires on silicon and use such nanowire arrays as the active semiconducting medium to realize diode lasers that emit at 1.3ìm to be eye safe. The lasers will be completely monolithic on the silicon chip. In this project, we will investigate the growth, design and characteristics of these novel nanowire lasers. We will also investigate the design and characteristics of a completely monolithic optical communication system on a silicon chip consisting of the nanowire laser, a dielectric waveguide and a detector made with the same nanowire array. The operating characteristics, including the speed of data transmission, will be investigated. The processing and transmission of information are ubiquitous in our daily lives and the expected progress in the proposed project will be extremely relevant to the general public. The subject of the proposal involves physics, chemistry, engineering and mathematics and will therefore be relevant to the education of a broad spectrum of school and college students and underrepresented minorities. Technical Project Description: The goal of this research is to explore the design, fabrication and characteristics of a GaN-based nanowire monolithic photonic integrated circuit on (001) silicon substrate operating at 1.3ìm and suitable for silicon photonics. The nanowires will be grown by molecular beam epitaxy on silicon and the nanowire diode laser will be integrated on-chip with a Si02 waveguide and nanowire detector. The optical communication system will be characterized in detail. The intellectual significance is the conception and realization of III-Nitride nanowire based monolithic edge-emitting 1.3 ìm diode laser and guided wave detector on silicon and their integration with passive waveguides to form a photonic integrated circuit. The proposed research will include extensive growth and characterization of nanowires and theoretical modeling of the nanowire lasers and detectors. A monolithic diode laser, and ultimately a photonic integrated circuit, on a (001) silicon platform and operating at 1.3 ìm is important for silicon photonics and other communications applications, but does not exist at the present time. The broader impacts are the interdisciplinary nature of the research and its undergraduate and underrepresented minorities and K-12 outreach. The principal goal in Education and Human Resource Development (EHRD) is to provide effective programs to educate the students involved in the research and outreach program constituents on the science and technology of photonic materials, regarded as an issue of national importance.