Nanoscale Electrically Driven Light Source Based on Hybrid Semiconductor/Metal Nanoantenna

A micro- or nanosized electrically controlled source of optical radiation is one of the key elements in optoelectronic systems. The phenomenon of light emission via inelastic tunneling (LEIT) of electrons through potential barriers or junctions opens up new possibilities for development of such sources. In this work, we present a simple approach for fabrication of nanoscale electrically driven light sources based on LEIT. We employ STM lithography to locally modify the surface of a Si/Au film stack via heating, which is enabled by a high-density tunnel current. Using the proposed technique, hybrid Si/Au nanoantennas with a minimum diameter of 60 nm were formed. Studying both electronic and optical properties of the obtained nanoantennas, we confirm that the resulting structures can efficiently emit photons in the visible range because of inelastic scattering of electrons. The proposed approach allows for fabrication of nanosized hybrid nanoantennas and studying their properties using STM.

Metal-slotted hybrid optical waveguides for PCB-compatible optical interconnection

For development of electro-optical printed circuit board (PCB) systems, PCB-compatible metal-slotted hybrid optical waveguide was proposed and its optical characteristics are investigated at a wavelength of 1.31 μm. To confine light in a metallic multilayered structure, a metal film with a wide trench is inserted at the center of a dielectric medium that is sandwiched between metal films of infinite width. A circularly symmetric spot of the guided mode was measured at the center of the metal-slotted optical waveguide, which is a good agreement with the theoretical prediction by using the finite-element method. The measured propagation loss is about 1.5 dB/cm. Successful transmission of 2.5 Gbps optical signal without any distortion of the eye diagram confirms that the proposed hybrid optical waveguide holds a potential transmission line for the PCB-compatible optical interconnection.

Integrated thin film InGaAsP laser and 1 x 4 polymer multimode interference splitter on silicon

We report on a thin film InGaAsP laser integrated with a 1 x 4 polymer multimode interference (MMI) splitter on a silicon substrate for planar optical signal distribution. The thin film laser had a threshold current of 40 mA and was endfire coupled to the integrated passive polymer MMI splitter, and the optical signal from the laser was distributed to the four output waveguides of the MMI coupler. The measured loss of the MMI splitter was 0.79 dB. The normalized powers of the four MMI output ports in the integrated system were measured to be 0.823, 0.978, 0.852, and 1.