%0 Journal Article
%T ¦Ë-Scale Embedded Active Region Photonic Crystal (LEAP) Lasers for Optical Interconnects£¿
%J Photonics | An Open Access Journal from MDPI
%D 2019
%R https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics6030082
%X The distances optical interconnects must cover are decreasing as Internet traffic continues to increase. Since short-reach interconnect applications require many transmitters, cost and power consumption are significant issues. Directly modulated lasers with a wavelength-scale active volume will be used as optical interconnects on boards and chips in the future because a small active volume is expected to reduce power consumption. We developed electrically driven photonic crystal (PhC) lasers with a wavelength-scale cavity in which the active region is embedded in a line-defect waveguide of an InP-based PhC slab. We call this a ¦Ë-scale embedded active region PhC laser, or a LEAP laser. The device, whose active region has six quantum wells with 2.5 ¡Á 0.3 ¡Á 0.15 ¦Ìm 3 active volume, exhibits a threshold current of 28 ¦ÌA and provides 10 fJ/bit of operating energy to 25 Gbit/s NRZ (non-return-to-zero) signals. The fiber-coupled output power is 6.9 ¦ÌW. We also demonstrate heterogeneous integration of LEAP lasers on a SiO 2/Si substrate for low-cost photonic integrated circuits (PICs). The threshold current is 40.5 ¦ÌA and the output power is 4.4 ¦ÌW with a bias current of 200 ¦ÌA. These results indicate the feasibility of using PhC lasers in very-short-distance optical communications. View Full-Tex
%U https://www.mdpi.com/2304-6732/6/3/82