Micro-transfer printing InP C-band SOAs on advanced silicon photonics platform for lossless MZI switch fabrics and high-speed integrated transmitters

• Published in: Optics express Vol. 31; no. 26; pp. 42807 - 42821
• Main Authors: Zhang, Jing, Bogaert, Laurens, Krückel, Clemens, Soltanian, Emadreza, Deng, Hong, Haq, Bahawal, Rimböck, Johanna, Van Kerrebrouck, Joris, Lepage, Guy, Verheyen, Peter, Van Campenhout, Joris, Ossieur, Peter, Van Thourhout, Dries, Morthier, Geert, Bogaerts, Wim, Roelkens, Gunther
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 18.12.2023
• ISSN: 1094-4087; 1094-4087
• DOI: 10.1364/OE.505112

We present an approach for the heterogeneous integration of InP semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs) and lasers on an advanced silicon photonics (SiPh) platform by using micro-transfer-printing (µTP). After the introduction of the µTP concept, the focus of this paper shifts to the demonstration of two C-band III-V/Si photonic integrated circuits (PICs) that are important in data-communication networks: an optical switch and a high-speed optical transmitter. First, a C-band lossless and high-speed Si Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) switch is demonstrated by co-integrating a set of InP SOAs with the Si MZI switch. The micro-transfer-printed SOAs provide 10 dB small-signal gain around 1560 nm with a 3 dB bandwidth of 30 nm. Secondly, an integrated transmitter combining an on-chip widely tunable laser and a doped-Si Mach-Zehnder modulator (MZM) is demonstrated. The laser has a continuous tuning range over 40 nm and the transmitter is capable of 40 Gbps non-return-to-zero (NRZ) back-to-back transmission at wavelengths ranging from 1539 to 1573 nm. These demonstrations pave the way for the realization of complex and fully integrated photonic systems-on-chip with integrated III-V-on-Si components, and this technique is transferable to other material films and devices that can be released from their native substrate.