Hybrid vertical-cavity laser integration on silicon

The hybrid vertical-cavity laser is a potential low current, high-efficiency, and small footprint light source for silicon photonics integration. As part of the development of such light sources we demonstrate hybrid-cavity VCSELs (HC-VCSELs) on silicon where a GaAs-based half-VCSEL is attached to a dielectric distributed Bragg reflector on silicon by adhesive bonding. HC-VCSELs at 850 nm with sub-mA threshold current, >2 mW output power, and 25 Gbit/s modulation speed are demonstrated. Integration of short-wavelength lasers will enable fully integrated photonic circuits on a silicon-nitride waveguide platform on silicon for applications in life science, bio-photonics, and short-reach optical interconnects.