MOICANA - Monolithic cointegration of QD-based InP on SiN as a versatile platform for the demonstration of high performance and low-cost PIC transmitters

摘要

The integration of optical sources in Si photonic transceivers has relied so far on externally coupled Ⅲ-Ⅴ laser dies withinthe assembly. These hybrid approaches are however complex and expensive, as there are additional cost-increasing factorscoming from the redundant testing of the pre- and post-coupled laser photonic chips. Further optimization of PhotonicIntegrated Circuits (PICs) cost and performance can be obtained only with radical technology advancements, such as the“holy grail” of Silicon Photonics; the monolithic integration of III-V sources on Si substrates. MOICANA project fundedby EU Horizon 2020 framework targets to develop the technological background for the epitaxy of InP Quantum Dotsdirectly on Si by Selective Area Growth with the best-in-class, in terms of losses and temperature sensitivity, in a CMOSfab, i.e. the SiN waveguide technology. In addition, MOICANA will develop the necessary interface for the seamless lighttransition between the III-V active and the SiN passive part of the circuitry featuring advanced multiplexing functionalityand a combination of efficient and broadband fiber coupling. Through this unique platform, MOICANA aims todemonstrate low cost, inherent cooler-less and energy efficient transmitters, attributes stemming directly from the low lossSiN waveguide technology and the QD nature of the laser’s active region. MOICANA is targeting to exploit the advantagesof the monolithic integrated PICs for the demonstration of large volume single-channel and WDM transmitter modules fordata center interconnects, 5G mobile fronthaul and coherent communication applications.