Abstract

An electronically tunable distributed feedback (DFB) laser heterogeneously integrated on a silicon photonics platform is experimentally demonstrated. Tuning is achieved through carrier injection into the tuning layer of a tunable twin‐guide III-V membrane on silicon. A 2 nm continuous tuning range is achieved with a single tuning current. Continuous‐wave single‐mode laser operation with a side‐mode suppression ratio larger than 44 dB across the tuning range is obtained. Measured wavelength switching times are on the order of 3 ns and non‐return‐to‐zero on‐off keying direct modulation at 12.5 Gbps is readily achieved. This work can be a major advance toward the realization of optical burst or packet switching systems for future data center networks.

Related Research Topics

• InP on Si lasers for telecommunication applications
• Fast and widely tunable III-V/SOI DFB and DBR lasers