O-Band Monolithic Quantum Dot Semiconductor Optical Amplifier on COMS-Compatible Silicon

The PhD candidate's vision is to develop the world's first semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) on silicon substrates by epitaxial growth methods. This EPSRC DTP studentship award aims to jointly investigate quantum dot (QD) gain region technology, advanced epitaxy and high-end nano-fabrication techniques to develop InAs QD SOAs monolithically grown on complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS)-compatible on-axis silicon (001) substrates for silicon photonics. In contrast to conventional native substrates based SOAs or Si-based III-V SOAs using either flip-chip bonding or wafer bonding, the proposed method is fundamentally different, since the PhD candidate aims to develop high-performance III-V SOAs directly on CMOS-compatible silicon (001), opening up the possibility to achieve high-yield, low-cost and large-scale silicon-based photonic integrated circuits (PICs) by leveraging the mature fabrication tools and processes developed by the CMOS industry.

The proposed study concerns a 36-month experimental study, where the EPSRC DTP PhD student be trained to undertake modelling, most of the device fabrication and characterisation, and analysis work. The topic is within the silicon-based Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Research, which is at the heart of the modern data revolution and addresses the EPSRC Cross-ICT Priorities 2017 - 2020 and fits the Cross-ICT areas, Cross-Disciplinary and Co-Creation. The significance of this proposal should not be underestimated; if the research challenges/objectives discussed in this proposal are not fulfilled, silicon-based PICs will not reach its full potential that is predicted.