Abstract

Monolithic lasers on silicon are ideal for large scale electronic-photonic integration [1]. Ge-on-Si is an interesting candidate due to its compatibility with silicon complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process and pseudo-direct band gap behavior in the near infrared regime for optical communications. Our theoretical analysis showed that epitaxial Ge-on-Si can be band-engineered by tensile strain and n-type doping to achieve optical gain and lasing from its direct gap transition [2]. In this paper we verify this theoretical analysis by demonstrating an optically-pumped edge-emitting Ge-on-Si laser at room temperature [3]. We also present room-temperature electroluminescence from an edge-emitting Ge/Si waveguide LED, a step towards electrically-pumped Ge lasers.

© 2011 Optical Society of America