Monolithic Integration of Sub-50 nm III-V Nano-Heterostructures on Si (001) for Telecom Photonics

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the monolithic integration of III-V nanoheterostructures on silicon for telecom photonics, enabling efficient light emission and quantum light sources in a scalable, precise manner suitable for advanced optical systems.

Contribution

It introduces a novel selective area epitaxy process for integrating III-V nanoheterostructures on silicon with atomic precision, including quantum dot-like active media for telecom applications.

Findings

Epitaxial growth confirmed by atomic resolution imaging

Emission covers entire telecom wavelength range

Potential for silicon-based nano-lasers and quantum light sources

Abstract

The demand for advanced photonics technology is increasing rapidly, fueled by the necessity for high-performance and cost-effective optical information processing systems extending into the quantum domain. Silicon, benefiting from its mature fabrication processes, stands as an ideal platform. However, its inherent indirect bandgap leads to inefficient light emission. The integration of III-V materials has been proven essential to overcome this drawback. These materials are recognized for their efficient light emission and superior bandgap engineering capabilities, making them indispensable in photonics and beyond. Here, we present the monolithic integration of small-volume III-V nanoheterostructures with silicon via selective area epitaxy in the pyramidal openings etched in (100)-oriented silicon substrate. The precise positioning of the nano-heterostructures is achieved using electron beam lithography. Our atomic resolution imaging and chemical analysis confirms the epitaxial nature of InP growth, revealing well-defined heterointerfaces. Each structure incorporates an InAsP quantum dot-like active medium, and the correlation of the growth parameters with the nanoscale structure was analyzed using advanced electron microscopy. The eight-band k.p calculations demonstrate energy level quantization in three spatial dimensions. Optical characterization shows that heterostructure emission can be engineered to cover the entire telecom wavelength range. Consequently, these InAsP/InP nano-heterostructures could serve as a gain medium for silicon-based hybrid nano-lasers and nano-LEDs and quantum light sources in the telecom wavelength range.