Research progress of III–V laser bonding to Si

Abstract

The vigorous development of silicon photonics makes a silicon-based light source essential for optoelectronics' integration. Bonding of III–V/Si hybrid laser has developed rapidly in the last ten years. In the tireless efforts of researchers, we are privileged to see these bonding methods, such as direct bonding, medium adhesive bonding and low temperature eutectic bonding. They have been developed and applied to the research and fabrication of III–V/Si hybrid lasers. Some research groups have made remarkable progress. Tanabe Katsuaki of Tokyo University successfully implemented a silicon-based InAs/GaAs quantum dot laser with direct bonding method in 2012. They have bonded the InAs/GaAs quantum dot laser to the silicon substrate and the silicon ridge waveguide, respectively. The threshold current of the device is as low as 200 A/cm². Stevan Stanković and Sui Shaoshuai successfully produced a variety of hybrid III–V/Si laser with the method of BCB bonding, respectively. BCB has high light transmittance and it can provide high bonding strength. Researchers of Tokyo University and Peking University have realized III–V/Si hybrid lasers with metal bonding method. We describe the progress in the fabrication of III–V/Si hybrid lasers with bonding methods by various research groups in recent years. The advantages and disadvantages of these methods are presented. We also introduce the progress of the growth of III–V epitaxial layer on silicon substrate, which is also a promising method to realize silicon-based light source. I hope that readers can have a general understanding of this field from this article and we can attract more researchers to focus on the study in this field.