McMaster University

Dawson Bonneville

Andrew Knights

Jonathan Bradley

Henry Frankis

Khadijeh Miarabbas Kiani

Cameron Naraine

Hybrid silicon devices are disclosed in which a silicon-based resonant structure is coated with a rare-earth-doped tellurium oxide layer that facilitates optical gain, thereby forming a silicon-based laser cavity. The silicon-based laser cavity supports at least one resonant mode that has a modal volume extending from the silicon resonant base structure into the rare-earth-doped tellurium oxide layer. The silicon-based laser cavity is optically coupled to a silicon waveguide to facilitate the delivery of pump laser energy to the silicon-based laser cavity, such that at least a portion of the pump laser energy propagating through the silicon waveguide is coupled to the silicon-based laser cavity for excitation of the rare earth dopant within the rare-earth-doped tellurium oxide layer. The silicon waveguide that is optically coupled to the silicon-based laser cavity also facilitates the external delivery of the laser energy generated within silicon-based laser cavity.

Integrated silicon structures with optical gain mediated by rare-earth-doped tellurium-oxide-coating

In various example embodiments, hybrid waveguide devices are disclosed based on a silicon nitride waveguide conformally coated with a tellurium oxide layer. A tellurium oxide layer is deposited over a silicon nitride waveguide such that the tellurium oxide layer forms a conformal layer that inherits the underlying shape of the silicon nitride waveguide, thereby forming a conformal raised region above the silicon nitride waveguide, while also forming planar regions that extend laterally from the silicon nitride waveguide. The present example hybrid waveguide structures enable the formation of a guided single mode that extends from the raised region of the tellurium oxide layer that resides above the silicon nitride waveguide into the silicon nitride waveguide, and the dimensions of the structure may be selected such that a majority of the optical mode is confined within the tellurium oxide layer, at least over a portion of the infrared region.

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Hamilton, Canada

Dawson Bonneville