III-nitride 1.5 Micron Photonic Devices on Si Substrates

Research in silicon photonics has received much attention in recent years for its potential to utilize well developed silicon processing technology. A broad range of linear and nonlinear silicon photonic devices such as modulators, splitters, switches and detectors have been demonstrated. However, the most important challenge in silicon photonics thus far is the difficulty of making electrically pumped light sources and amplifiers. The objective of this project is to develop new types of optical emitters and amplifiers on silicon. The proposed approach is to utilize epitaxial growth of III-nitride semiconductors on Si substrate with in-situ erbium (Er) doping by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). The approach is based on successful synthesizing of III-nitride UV/visible photonic structures on Si and Er-doped III-nitride photonic structures, achieved jointly by III-N Technology, Inc and Texas Tech University. These photonic structures predominantly exhibited the desired optical emission for optical communication at 1.5 micron. The technical aims are to (a) Further develop MOCVD growth technology for obtaining device quality InGaN on Si; (b) Optimize in-situ Er incorporation into III-nitride device structures; (c) Develop device fabrication technology for the realization of Er-doped nitride optical amplifiers and emitters active at 1.5 micron.