Search

We present a compact, fibre-coupled single photon source using gradient-index (GRIN) lenses and an InAsP semiconductor quantum dot embedded within an InP photonic nanowire waveguide. A GRIN lens assembly is used to collect photons close to the tip of the nanowire, coupling the light immediately into a single mode optical fibre. The system provides a stable, high brightness source of fibre-coupled single photons. Using pulsed excitation, we demonstrate on-demand operation with a single photon purity of 98.5% when exciting at saturation in a device with a source-fibre collection efficiency of 35% and an overall single photon collection efficiency of 10%. We also demonstrate “plug and play” operation using room temperature photoluminescence from the InP nanowire for room temperature alignment.

We briefly review the features of interband cascade lasers (ICLs) and discuss rationales for using an InAs-based plasmon waveguide configuration for extending efficient operation of ICLs to long wavelengths. We then present our recent progress in InAs-based ICLs based on an advanced waveguide configuration. We demonstrated room temperature continuous wave operation of ICLs at wavelengths longer than 6 μm.

Interband cascade lasers (ICLs) are becoming a leading semiconductor laser technology for the mid-infrared because of their high efficiency and low power consumption, especially as compared with conventional diode lasers and intersubband quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) in the wavelength range from 3-5 μm. Although a greater effort has been directed towards GaSb-based ICLs in the ~3-5μm range, recent work has highlighted the exciting potential for InAs-based ICLs for reaching longer emission wavelengths. In this work we report the development of low-threshold InAs-based ICLs with a room-temperature emission wavelength of 6.3μm. The devices were grown on n+-InAs (100) substrates by solid-source molecular beam epitaxy in a custom V90 system using valved crackers for Sb2 and As2. The ICL structures employ an improved waveguide design using intermediate AlAs/AlSb/InAs strain-balanced superlattice cladding layers surrounded by heavily-doped n+-InAs plasmonic claddings. The active region includes 15-stages with AlSb/InAs/In(0.35)Ga(0.65)Sb/InAs/AlSb type-II “W” quantum wells and optimized electron injector doping. In pulsed mode, broad-area devices lased at 300 K at a lasing wavelength of 6.26 μm and a threshold current density of 395 A/cm2 which is the lowest ever reported among semiconductor lasers at similar wavelengths. The broad-area devices lased up to 335K in pulsed mode at a wavelength of 6.45 μm. These results provide strong evidence of the potential for InAs-based ICLs as efficient sources in the mid-IR.

We demonstrate an in-situ technique to tune the emission energy of semiconductor quantum dots. The technique is based on laser-induced atomic intermixing applied to nanowire quantum dots grown using a site-selective process that allows for the deterministic tuning of individual emitters. A tuning range of up to 15 meV is obtained with a precision limited by the laser exposure time. A distinct saturation of the energy shift is observed, which suggests an intermixing mechanism relying on grown-in defects that are subsequently removed from the semiconductor material during annealing. The ability to tune different emitters into resonance with each other will be required for fabricating remote quantum dot-based sources of indistinguishable photons for secure quantum networks.

InAs-based interband cascade (IC) lasers with improved optical confinement have achieved high-temperature operation with a threshold current density as low as 333 A/cm2 at 300 K for emission at 6003 nm. The threshold current density is the lowest ever reported among semiconductor midinfrared lasers at similar wavelengths. These InAs-based IC devices lased in pulsed mode at temperatures up to 357 K near 6.28 μm. A narrow-ridge device was able to operate in continuous-wave mode at temperatures up to 293 K at 6.01 μm.

GaSb-based tunable single-mode diode lasers can enable rapid, highly-selective and highly-sensitive absorption spectroscopy systems for gas sensing. In this work, single-mode distributed feedback (DFB) laser diodes were developed for the detection of various trace gases in the 2-3.3um range, including CO2, CO, HF, H2S, H2O and CH4. The lasers were fabricated using an index-coupled grating process without epitaxial regrowth, making the process significantly less expensive than conventional DFB fabrication. The devices are based on InGaAsSb/AlGaAsSb separate confinement heterostructures grown on GaSb by molecular beam epitaxy. DFB lasers were produced using a two step etch process. Narrow ridge waveguides were first defined by optical lithography and etched into the semiconductor. Lateral gratings were then defined on both sides of the ridge using electron-beam lithography and etched to produce the index-grating. Effective index modeling was used to optimize the ridge width, etch depths and the grating pitch to ensure single-lateral-mode operation and adequate coupling strength. The effective index method was further used to simulate the DFB laser emission spectrum, based on a transfer matrix model for light transmission through the periodic structure. The fabricated lasers exhibit single-mode operation which is tunable through the absorption features of the various target gases by adjustment of the drive current. In addition to the established open-path sensing applications, these devices have great potential for optoelectronic integrated gas sensors, making use of integrated photodetectors and possibly on-chip Si photonics waveguide structures.

Interband cascade (IC) lasers have been demonstrated based on type-I InGaAsSb/AlAsSb quantum well (QW) active regions. These type-I IC lasers are composed of 6-cascade stages and InAs/AlSb superlattice cladding layers. In contrast to the use of quinary AlGaInAsSb barriers for active region in previous type-I QW lasers, the type-I QW active region in each stage is sandwiched by digitally graded multiple InAs/AlSb QW electron injector and GaSb/AlSb QW hole injector. The fabricated type-I IC lasers were able to operate in continuous wave and pulsed modes at temperatures up to 306 and 365 K, respectively. The threshold current densities of broad-area lasers were around 300 A/cm2 at 300 K with a lasing wavelength near 3.2 μm. The implications and prospects of these initial results are discussed.

We report on the experimental demonstration and analysis of a new waveguide principle using subwavelength gratings. Unlike other periodic waveguides such as line-defects in a 2D photonic crystal lattice, a subwavelength grating waveguide confines the light as a conventional index-guided structure and does not exhibit optically resonant behaviour. Subwavelength grating waveguides in silicon-on-insulator are fabricated with a single etch step and allow for flexible control of the effective refractive index of the waveguide core simply by lithographic patterning. Experimental measurements indicate a propagation loss as low as 2.1 dB/cm for subwavelength grating waveguides with negligible polarization and wavelength dependent loss, which compares favourably to conventional microphotonic silicon waveguides. The measured group index is nearly constant n(g) ~1.5 over a wavelength range exceeding the telecom C-band.

Optoelectronic devices based on single, self-assembled semiconductor quantum dots are attractive for applications in secure optical communications, quantum computation and sensing. In this paper we show how it is possible to dictate the nucleation site of individual InAs/InP quantum dots using a directed self-assembly process, to control the electronic structure of the nucleated dots and also how to control their coupling to the optical field by locating them within the high field region of a photonic crystal nanocavity. For application within fiber networks, these quantum dots are targeted to emit in the spectral region around 1550 nm., Quantum Sensing and Nanophotonic Devices VII, January 24, 2010, San Francisco, California, USA

SPIE OPTO: Integrated Optoelectronic Devices, January 24, 2009, San Jose, California, United States, Series: SPIE Proceedings

Single-mode laser diodes on GaSb substrates were developed using InGaAsSb/AlGaAsSb triple quantum well active regions grown by molecular beam epitaxy. The devices were fabricated using lateral Cr gratings, with a grating pitch designed to coincide with a strong absorption feature of HF gas, deposited adjacent to a dry-etched narrow ridge waveguide. High sidemode suppression was achieved, and in 20°C continuous-wave operation, devices with a 400μm-long cavity provided 4.5mW total output power at the 2396nm target wavelength. Anti-reflection and high-reflection facet coatings exhibited no deleterious effects on the laser tunability or mode quality, thus allowing the preferential extraction of output power from a single laser facet.

A detailed study of the high-power pulsed operation of C-band optically-pumped GaInNAsSb vertical cavity surface emitting lasers is reported. The devices employ a resonant periodic gain structure grown by molecular beam epitaxy on a GaAs substrate with a 31-pair GaAs/AlAs bottom distributed Bragg reflector and a 4-λ, GaAs-based resonant cavity containing 10 GaInNAsSb quantum wells distributed among the 7 antinodes of the electric field. A dual-pump-band SiO2/TiO2 dielectric top mirror allows efficient optical pumping via low reflectivities at 808nm and 1064nm while providing very high reflectivity at the 1.55μm target emission wavelength. The laser characteristics were evaluated using both a Q-switched Nd:YAG 1064nm pump and a 20W-peak 180ns-pulsed 850nm diode laser. The importance of the gain-cavity detuning was evident from time-dependent spectral measurements of laser material subjected to post-growth annealing at different temperatures between 725 and 775°C. The highest annealing temperature produces the largest blue shift of the gain peak relative to the cavity resonance, resulting in the best power transfer characteristics as well as reduced temperature sensitivity.

We demonstrate highly efficient evanescent coupling via a silica loop-nanowire, to ultra-small (0.5 (lambda/n)(3) ), InAs/InP quantum dot photonic crystal cavities, specifically designed for single photon source applications. This coupling technique enables the tuning of both the Q-factor and the wavelength of the cavity mode independently, which is highly relevant for single photon source applications. First, this allows for the optimization of the extraction efficiency while maintaining a high Purcell factor. Second, the cavity mode can be matched with a spectrally misaligned quantum dot without changing the structure or degrading the Q-factor: a 3 nm resonance shift is reported.

The room-temperature 1.55 m m continuous-wave (CW) operation of single-lateral mode GaInNAsSb ridge waveguide lasers grown on GaAs is reported. Detailed measurements of the light output power and spectral properties were used to assess the device characteristics as a function of applied current and temperature in both CW and pulsed operation. An exemplary, 3 m ×750 m m, device with a 92% high-reflectivity back facet coating exhibited a record low CW threshold current of 63~mA, with a peak output power of 15~mW. High-resolution modal gain spectra were extracted from amplified spontaneous emission measurements yielding the internal loss (8.0~cm -1 , transparency current (50~mA) and the wavelength dependence of the differential gain. The latter was used with careful measurements of the Fabry-Perot mode shift with injection current to determine the linewidth enhancement factor of 2.8 at the transparency current. The first measurement of intrinsic modulation frequency in 1.55 m m GaInNAsSb lasers is reported, based on the observed relative intensity noise (RIN). The RIN measurements indicate a maximum modulation frequency of 7.2~GHz, which is a promising result for future telecommunications applications.

The 1.55 mum pulsed operation of an optically-pumped GaInNAsSb vertical-cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) is reported. Full temperature (10-50degC) and wavelength-dependent (1540-1560 nm) laser measurements were recorded. The annealing effect on laser performance is also shown.

Polarization insensitive 1.5 micrometer QW optical amplifiers, modulators, and detectors were fabricated using a novel, simple, post-growth, integratable technique. The process utilizes ion-implantation-induced, spatially selective, quantum well (QW) shape modification. A simple model shows that if the interdiffusion rate of the anions is larger than that of the cations, the blue shift in the ground state heavy hole transition energy after implantation and annealing is greater than the light hole state blue shift, merging the two bands and thus eliminating the difference between the TE (transverse electric) and TM (transverse magnetic) waveguide propagation modes. Current- voltage measurements indicate that junction characteristics are well maintained after processing. This simple technique for fabricating discrete polarization insensitive optoelectronic devices is readily extended to the monolithic integration of such devices along with other passive and active optoelectronic devices and provides a pathway to practical photonic integrated circuits., Emerging Components and Technologies for All-Optical Photonic Systems II, Nov. 18, 1996, Boston, Massachusetts, United States, Series: Proceedings of SPIE; no. 2918

A technique for fabricating transparent waveguides on the same wafer as a quantum well (QW) DBR laser array has been developed. High [MeV] energy ion implantation is used to create a large number of vacancies and interstitials throughout the active region of the device. Upon annealing, these entities enhance the intermixing of the QW and barrier materials resulting in a blue shift of the QW bandgap. Energy shifts (measured using low temperature photoluminescence spectroscopy) of greater than 60 meV can be achieved. Room temperature waveguide absorption measurements verify the shift in the bandgap energy and confirm that the waveguide is now effectively transparent in the wavelength range of the QW lasers. This technique is being used in an eight wavelength WDM transmitter array in which the waveguiding region is selectively implanted and blue shifted.

We assess the non-radiative recombination mechanisms in GaInNAsSb structures by comparing p-doped, n-doped and un-doped material. Our results indicate a contribution from thermally activated leakage in 1.55 mum GaInNAsSb Quantum well lasers at elevated temperatures.