阅读说明：本技术 一种硅基量子点光子晶体激光器及加工方法 (Silicon-based quantum dot photonic crystal laser and processing method ) 是由 张昭宇 周陶杰 于 2020-08-06 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明提供了一种硅基量子点光子晶体激光器及加工方法,该激光器结构包括依次层叠的：硅衬底层、缺陷抑制层、牺牲层、发光层和盖层。缺陷抑制层处在硅衬底层上,包括交替层叠的第一量子点层和三五族缓冲层,与硅衬底层接触的为第一量子点层,与牺牲层接触的为三五族缓冲层,牺牲层为中空结构,发光层包括交替层叠的第二量子点层和间隔层以及包覆层,与牺牲层和包覆层接触的均为间隔层,发光层为空气孔结构。该激光器采用在硅衬底层上生长量子点层做为激光器的增益介质,从而制备硅基直接生长的高密度集成的三五族激光器的方法,使激光器具有体积小,重量轻,工作稳定可靠的特点。(The invention provides a silicon-based quantum dot photonic crystal laser and a processing method thereof, wherein the laser structure comprises the following stacked layers in sequence: a silicon substrate layer, a defect suppression layer, a sacrificial layer, a light emitting layer, and a cap layer. The defect inhibiting layer is arranged on the silicon substrate layer and comprises a first quantum dot layer and a III-V group buffer layer which are alternately stacked, the first quantum dot layer is in contact with the silicon substrate layer, the III-V group buffer layer is in contact with the sacrificial layer, the sacrificial layer is of a hollow structure, the light emitting layer comprises a second quantum dot layer, a spacing layer and a coating layer which are alternately stacked, the spacing layer is in contact with the sacrificial layer and the coating layer, and the light emitting layer is of an air hole structure. The laser adopts the method that the quantum dot layer is grown on the silicon substrate layer to be used as the gain medium of the laser, thereby preparing the high-density integrated III-V group laser with silicon-based direct growth, and the laser has the characteristics of small volume, light weight and stable and reliable work.)

1. A silicon-based quantum dot photonic crystal laser is characterized by comprising a silicon substrate layer, a defect inhibiting layer, a sacrificial layer, a light emitting layer and a cover layer which are sequentially stacked:

the defect inhibiting layer is positioned on the silicon substrate layer and comprises a first quantum dot layer and a III-V buffer layer which are alternately stacked, the first quantum dot layer is contacted with the silicon substrate layer, and the III-V buffer layer is contacted with the sacrificial layer;

the sacrificial layer is of a hollow structure;

the light-emitting layer comprises second quantum dot layers, spacing layers and cladding layers which are alternately stacked, the spacing layers are in contact with the sacrificial layers and the cladding layers, and the light-emitting layer is of an air hole structure.

2. The silicon-based quantum dot photonic crystal laser of claim 1, wherein the first quantum dot layer is an InAs quantum dot layer.

3. The silicon-based quantum dot photonic crystal laser of claim 1, wherein the defect-suppression layer comprises 4 layers of the first quantum dot layer.

4. The silicon-based quantum dot photonic crystal laser of claim 1, wherein the group iii-v buffer layer is a GaAs layer.

5. The silicon-based quantum dot photonic crystal laser of claim 1, wherein the thickness of the group iii-v buffer layer in contact with the sacrificial layer ranges from 500nm to 700nm, and the thickness of the remaining group iii-v buffer layers ranges from 700nm to 900 nm.

6. The silicon-based quantum dot photonic crystal laser of claim 1, wherein the material of the sacrificial layer is Al_XGa_1-XAs, wherein, the value range of X is 0.6-0.96;

the thickness of the sacrificial layer ranges from 600nm to 1000 nm.

7. The silicon-based quantum dot photonic crystal laser of claim 1, wherein said light emitting layer comprises 5 of said second quantum dot layers, said second quantum dot layers being InAs quantum dot layers, said spacer layers being GaAs layers.

8. The silicon-based quantum dot photonic crystal laser of claim 1, wherein the cladding layer is Al_0.4The thickness of the GaAs layer ranges from 60nm to 100 nm.

9. The silicon-based quantum dot photonic crystal laser of claim 1, wherein a cap layer is provided on the light emitting layer, the cap layer is made of GaAs, and the thickness ranges from 10nm to 15 nm.

10. A method of processing a silicon-based quantum dot photonic crystal laser, wherein the silicon-based quantum dot photonic crystal laser employs the silicon-based quantum dot photonic crystal laser according to any one of claims 1 to 9, the method comprising:

growing a defect suppression layer on the silicon substrate layer;

growing a sacrificial layer on the defect-inhibiting layer;

growing a light emitting layer on the sacrificial layer;

growing a cap layer on the light emitting layer;

growing a silicon oxide layer on the cap layer;

coating electronic glue on the silicon oxide layer, and forming a first preset pattern on the electronic glue through electron beam exposure and development;

etching the silicon oxide layer by dry etching to form an etched surface with a smooth and flat surface;

forming a second predetermined pattern having air holes by dry etching the light emitting layer;

removing the electronic glue by dry etching;

removing the silicon oxide layer by wet etching;

the sacrificial layer is etched through the air holes by wet etching to form hollow structures.

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of optical communication lasers, in particular to a silicon-based quantum dot photonic crystal laser and a processing method thereof.

Background

Silicon photonics is a silicon-based optical communication technology. However, since silicon itself is an inorganic semiconductor material with an indirect band gap, the light emitting performance is much poorer than that of an inorganic semiconductor material with a direct band gap. Currently, silicon-based lasers are mainly silicon-based raman lasers, but the silicon-based raman lasers are weak in strength and high in requirements for manufacturing processes, and therefore, laser light sources on a silicon optical chip are usually externally coupled lasers, such as a waveguide type (FP) laser, a Distributed Feedback (DFB) laser, and a Vertical Cavity Surface (VCSEL) emitting laser. Direct bandgap inorganic semiconductor materials (such as InGaP, InAs, etc.) are commonly used as the active region light-emitting medium of inorganic semiconductor lasers. The lasers of silicon photonics chips are coupled into the silicon chips by means of alignment or bonding, however, such coupling increases the manufacturing cost of the lasers and the silicon chips. Moreover, the FP laser, DFB laser and VCSEL laser have larger device sizes, which is not favorable for large-area, high-density integrated silicon-based optical chips.

In order to solve the difficulty of silicon chip integrated lasers, a silicon-based laser is prepared by an epitaxial mode of silicon-based direct growth of III-V group luminescent materials, and the silicon-based laser is prepared by processing a silicon substrate, such as growing inorganic quantum dots or quantum wells on an off-cut silicon substrate, a patterned silicon substrate (V-groove Si) and a Si (001) crystal face substrate compatible with a CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) process to be used as a gain medium of the laser. Because of the mismatch between silicon and iii-v lattices, large difference in thermal conductivity, and the like, it is more challenging to directly grow iii-v light-emitting layers on Si (001) crystal planes compatible with CMOS processes compared to beveled silicon substrates and patterned silicon substrates. Although silicon-based FP lasers, silicon-based DFB lasers, etc. are currently being developed, such large-sized silicon-based lasers are not conducive to large-area, high-density integrated silicon photonics chips.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention aims to provide a silicon-based quantum dot photonic crystal laser and a processing method thereof so as to solve the problem that the conventional silicon-based laser is not beneficial to being manufactured in a large-area and high-density integrated silicon photonic chip.

In order to achieve the above object, the embodiment of the present invention adopts the following technical solutions, including:

a silicon-based quantum dot photonic crystal laser comprises a silicon substrate layer, a defect inhibiting layer, a sacrificial layer, a light emitting layer and a cover layer which are sequentially stacked:

the defect inhibiting layer is positioned on the silicon substrate layer and comprises a first quantum dot layer and a III-V buffer layer which are alternately stacked, the first quantum dot layer is contacted with the silicon substrate layer, and the III-V buffer layer is contacted with the sacrificial layer;

the sacrificial layer is of a hollow structure;

the light-emitting layer comprises second quantum dot layers, spacing layers and cladding layers which are alternately stacked, the spacing layers are in contact with the sacrificial layers and the cladding layers, and the light-emitting layer is of an air hole structure.

Further, the first quantum dot layer is an InAs quantum dot layer.

Further, the defect suppression layer includes 4 layers of the first quantum dot layer.

Further, the III-V buffer layer is a GaAs layer.

Furthermore, the thickness of the III-V group buffer layer in contact with the sacrificial layer ranges from 500nm to 700nm, and the thickness of the rest III-V group buffer layers ranges from 700nm to 900 nm.

Further, the sacrificial layer material is Al_XGa_1-XAs, wherein, the value range of X is 0.6-0.96.

Furthermore, the thickness of the sacrificial layer ranges from 600nm to 1000 nm.

Furthermore, the second quantum dot layer is an InAs quantum dot layer, and the spacing layer is a GaAs layer.

Furthermore, the light-emitting layer comprises 5 second quantum dot layers, and a spacing layer is arranged between the second quantum dot layers. Optionally, the spacer layer has a thickness of 50 nm.

Furthermore, a coating layer is grown on the outer layer of the structure formed by the second quantum dot layer and the spacing layer. Further, the coating layer is Al_0.4The thickness of the GaAs layer ranges from 60nm to 100 nm.

Furthermore, the cover layer is positioned on the light-emitting layer, and the material of the cover layer is GaAs.

Furthermore, the thickness of the cover layer ranges from 10nm to 15 nm.

A processing method of a silicon-based quantum dot photonic crystal laser, which adopts the silicon-based quantum dot photonic crystal laser, comprises the following steps:

growing a defect suppression layer on the silicon substrate layer;

growing a sacrificial layer on the defect-inhibiting layer;

growing a luminescent layer and a cover layer on the sacrificial layer;

growing a silicon oxide layer on the cap layer;

coating electronic glue on the silicon oxide layer, and forming a first preset pattern on the electronic glue through electron beam exposure and development;

etching the silicon oxide layer by a dry method to form an etched surface with a smooth and flat surface;

forming a second predetermined pattern having air holes by dry etching the light emitting layer;

removing the electronic glue by dry etching;

removing the silicon oxide layer by wet etching;

the sacrificial layer is etched through the light emitting layer air holes by wet etching to form a hollow structure.

The invention has the beneficial effects that:

the quantum dot layer is grown on the silicon substrate layer and used as a gain medium of the laser, so that the three-five laser with silicon-based direct growth is prepared, the three-five laser is suitable for preparing large-area and high-density integrated lasers, and the three-five laser has the characteristics of small volume, light weight, stable and reliable work and the like.

Drawings

To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings that are required to be used in the embodiments will be briefly described below, and it should be understood that the following drawings only illustrate some embodiments of the present invention, and therefore should not be considered as limiting the scope of the present invention.

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a silicon-based quantum dot photonic crystal laser according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a three-dimensional structure of a silicon-based quantum dot photonic crystal laser according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is an electron microscope image of a fabricated silicon-based quantum dot photonic crystal laser provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a laser spectrum diagram of a silicon-based quantum dot photonic crystal laser according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Various embodiments of the present invention will be described more fully hereinafter. The invention is capable of various embodiments and of modifications and variations therein. However, it should be understood that: there is no intention to limit various embodiments of the invention to the specific embodiments disclosed herein, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and/or alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of various embodiments of the invention.

Hereinafter, the terms "includes" or "may include" used in various embodiments of the present invention indicate the presence of the disclosed functions, operations, or elements, and do not limit the addition of one or more functions, operations, or elements. Furthermore, as used in various embodiments of the present invention, the terms "comprises," "comprising," "includes," "including," "has," "having" and their derivatives are intended to mean that the specified features, numbers, steps, operations, elements, components, or combinations of the foregoing, are only meant to indicate that a particular feature, number, step, operation, element, component, or combination of the foregoing, and should not be construed as first excluding the existence of, or adding to the possibility of, one or more other features, numbers, steps, operations, elements, components, or combinations of the foregoing.

In various embodiments of the invention, the expression "or" at least one of a or/and B "includes any or all combinations of the words listed simultaneously. For example, the expression "a or B" or "at least one of a or/and B" may include a, may include B, or may include both a and B.

Expressions (such as "first", "second", and the like) used in various embodiments of the present invention may modify various constituent elements in various embodiments, but may not limit the respective constituent elements. For example, the above description does not limit the order and/or importance of the elements described. The foregoing description is for the purpose of distinguishing one element from another. For example, the first user device and the second user device indicate different user devices, although both are user devices. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and, similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of various embodiments of the present invention.

It should be noted that: in the present invention, unless otherwise explicitly stated or defined, the terms "mounted," "connected," "fixed," and the like are to be construed broadly, e.g., as being fixedly connected, detachably connected, or integrally connected; can be mechanically or electrically connected; can be directly connected or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium; there may be communication between the interiors of the two elements. The specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood by those skilled in the art according to specific situations.

In the present invention, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the terms indicating an orientation or a positional relationship herein are based on the orientations and the positional relationships shown in the drawings and are only for convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, but do not indicate or imply that the device or the element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed in a specific orientation and operate, and thus, should not be construed as limiting the present invention.

The terminology used in the various embodiments of the invention is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the various embodiments of the invention. As used herein, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which various embodiments of the present invention belong. The terms (such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries) should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their contextual meaning in the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein in various embodiments of the present invention.