DOI 10.1007/s00339-009-5118-1 Hybrid silicon evanescent approach to optical interconnects

© The Author(s) 2009. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com Abstract We discuss the recently developed hybrid silicon evanescent platform (HSEP), and its application as a promis-ing candidate for optical interconnects in silicon. A num-ber of key discrete components and a wafer-scale integra-tion process are reviewed. The motivation behind this work is to realize silicon-based photonic integrated circuits pos-sessing unique advantages of III–V materials and silicon-on-insulator waveguides simultaneously through a complemen-tary metal-oxide semiconductor fabrication process. Elec-trically pumped hybrid silicon distributed feedback and distributed Bragg reflector lasers with integrated hybrid silicon photodetectors are demonstrated coupled to SOI waveguides, serving as the reliable on-chip single-frequency light sources. For the external signal processing, Mach– Zehnder interferometer modulators are demonstrated, show-ing a resistance-capacitance-limited, 3 dB electrical band-width up to 8 GHz and a modulation efficiency of 1.5 V mm. The successful implementation of quantum well intermixing technique opens up the possibility to realize multiple III–V bandgaps in this platform. Sampled grating DBR devices in-tegrated with electroabsorption modulators (EAM) are fab-ricated, where the bandgaps in gain, mirror, and EAM re