Intel, UC Santa Barbara Develop World's First Hybrid Silicon Laser; Chip that Emits and Guides Light Could Drive Silicon Photonics Into Wide Use in Future Computers and Data Centers

The researchers were able to combine the light-emitting propertiesof Indium Phosphide with the light-routing capabilities of siliconinto a single hybrid chip. When voltage is applied, light generated inthe Indium Phosphide enters the silicon waveguide to create acontinuous laser beam that can be used to drive other silicon photonicdevices. A laser based on silicon could drive wider use of photonicsin computers because the cost can be greatly reduced by usinghigh-volume silicon manufacturing techniques.

"This could bring low-cost, terabit-level optical 'data pipes'inside future computers and help make possible a new era ofhigh-performance computing applications," said Mario Paniccia,director of Intel's Photonics Technology Lab. "While still far frombecoming a commercial product, we believe dozens, maybe even hundredsof hybrid silicon lasers could be integrated with other siliconphotonic components onto a single silicon chip."

"Our research program with Intel highlights how industry andacademia can work together to advance the state of science andtechnology," said John Bowers, a professor of electrical and computerengineering at UC Santa Barbara. "By combining UCSB's expertise withIndium Phosphide and Intel's silicon photonics expertise, we havedemonstrated a novel laser structure based on a bonding method thatcan be used at the wafer-, partial-wafer or die-level, and could be asolution for large-scale optical integration onto a silicon platform.This marks the beginning of highly integrated silicon photonic chipsthat can be mass produced at low cost."

Technical Details

While widely used to mass produce affordable digital electronicstoday, silicon can also be used to route, detect, modulate and evenamplify light, but not to effectively generate light. In contrast,Indium Phosphide-based lasers are commonly used today intelecommunications equipment. But the need to individually assembleand align them has made them too expensive to build in the highvolumes and at the low costs needed by the PC industry.

The hybrid silicon laser involves a novel design employing IndiumPhosphide-based material for light generation and amplification whileusing the silicon waveguide to contain and control the laser. The keyto manufacturing the device is the use of a low-temperature, oxygenplasma -- an electrically charged oxygen gas -- to create a thin oxidelayer (roughly 25 atoms thick) on the surfaces of both materials.

When heated and pressed together the oxide layer functions as a"glass-glue" fusing the two materials into a single chip. When voltageis applied, light generated in the Indium Phosphide-based materialpasses through the oxide "glass-glue" layer and into the siliconchip's waveguide, where it is contained and controlled, creating ahybrid silicon laser. The design of the waveguide is critical todetermining the performance and specific wavelength of the hybridsilicon laser. More information on the Hybrid Silicon Laser can befound at http://www.intel.com/research/platform/sp/hybridlaser.htm.

Today's announcement builds on Intel's other accomplishments inits long-term research program to "siliconize" photonics usingstandard silicon manufacturing processes. In 2004, Intel researcherswere the first to demonstrate a silicon-based optical modulator with abandwidth in excess of 1GHz, nearly 50 times faster than previousdemonstrations of modulation in silicon. In 2005, Intel researcherswere the first to demonstrate that silicon could be used to amplifylight using an external light source to produce a continuous wavelaser-on-a-chip based on the "Raman effect."

Bowers has worked with Indium Phosphide-based materials and lasersfor more than 25 years. Currently his research is focused ondeveloping novel optoelectronic devices with data rates as high as160Gb/s and techniques to bond dissimilar materials together to createnew devices with improved performance.

Engineering at UC Santa Barbara

Engineering at UC Santa Barbara is considered a leader inbioengineering, chemical and computational engineering, materialsscience, nanotechnology, optics and physics. UCSB has five facultyNobel Laureates. The College of Engineering's uniquely successfulinterdisciplinary and entrepreneurial approach to research andlearning is central to these achievements. www.engineering.ucsb.edu.

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