Colloidal Quantum Dots Enabling Coherent Light Sources for Integrated Silicon-Nitride Photonics

Abstract

Integrated photonic circuits, increasingly based on silicon (-nitride), are at the core of the next generation of low-cost, energy efficient optical devices ranging from on-chip interconnects to biosensors. One of the main bottlenecks in developing such components is that of implementing sufficient functionalities on the often passive backbone, such as light emission and amplification. A possible route is that of hybridization where a new material is combined with the existing framework to provide a desired functionality. Here, we present a detailed design flow for the hybridization of silicon nitride-based integrated photonic circuits with so-called colloidal quantum dots (QDs). QDs are nanometer sized pieces of semiconductor crystals obtained in a colloidal dispersion which are able to absorb, emit, and amplify light in a wide spectral region. Moreover, they combine cost-effective solution based deposition methods, ambient stability, and low fabrication cost. Starting from the linear and nonlinear material properties obtained on the starting colloidal dispersions, we can predict and evaluate thin film and device performance, which we demonstrate through characterization of the first on-chip QD-based laser.