A silicon Brillouin laser

Abstract

Silicon is the workhorse of the semiconductor electronics industry, but its lack of optical functionality is a barrier to developing a truly integrated silicon-based optoelectronics platform. Although there are several ways of exploiting nonlinear light-matter interactions to coax silicon into optical functionality, the effects tend to be weak. Otterstrom et al. used a suspended silicon waveguide racetrack structure to stimulate the stronger nonlinear effect of Brillouin scattering and achieve lasing from silicon. The ability to engineer the nonlinearity and tune the optical response through the design of the suspended cavity provides a powerful and flexible route for developing silicon-based optoelectronic circuits and devices.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Jun 08, 2018
Source ID
10.1126/science.aar6113

Entities

People

  • Eric A Kittlaus
  • Nils T Otterstrom
  • Peter T Rakich
  • Ryan O Behunin
  • Zheng Wang

Organizations

  • David and Lucile Packard Foundation
  • National Science Foundation
  • Northern Arizona University
  • University of Texas at Austin
  • Yale University

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Educational Psychology
  • Integrated Circuit Design and Technology.
  • Optical Physics and Photonics.

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy
  • Microelectronics