Silicon-based three-dimensional photonic crystal nanocavity laser with InAs quantum-dot gain

Abstract

We report on the demonstration of lasing oscillation in a silicon-based three-dimensional photonic crystal nanocavity using InAs quantum dots as gain material by pulsed optical pumping at 11 K. An active layer embedding InAs quantum dots was inserted in the cavity using micromanipulation technique. The highest quality factor for silicon-based three-dimensional photonic crystal cavities (∼22 000) was achieved. We also evaluated the spontaneous emission coupling factor of the laser to be ∼0.78 by fitting the experimental light-in light-out curve with coupled rate equations. This result would pave the way to the realization of CMOS-compatible high-density three-dimensional photonic integrated circuits.