title: A continuous-wave Raman silicon laser.
abstract: Achieving optical gain and/or lasing in silicon has been one of the most challenging goals in silicon-based photonics because bulk silicon is an indirect bandgap semiconductor and therefore has a very low light emission efficiency. Recently, stimulated Raman scattering has been used to demonstrate light amplification and lasing in silicon. However, because of the nonlinear optical loss associated with two-photon absorption (TPA)-induced free carrier absorption (FCA), until now lasing has been limited to pulsed operation. Here we demonstrate a continuous-wave silicon Raman laser. Specifically, we show that TPA-induced FCA in silicon can be significantly reduced by introducing a reverse-biased p-i-n diode embedded in a silicon waveguide. The laser cavity is formed by coating the facets of the silicon waveguide with multilayer dielectric films. We have demonstrated stable single mode laser output with side-mode suppression of over 55 dB and linewidth of less than 80 MHz. The lasing threshold depends on the p-i-n reverse bias voltage and the laser wavelength can be tuned by adjusting the wavelength of the pump laser. The demonstration of a continuous-wave silicon laser represents a significant milestone for silicon-based optoelectronic devices.
authors.affiliation: Intel Corporation, 2200 Mission College Blvd, CHP3-109, Santa Clara, California 95054, USA. haisheng.rong@intel.com
authors.forename: Haisheng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rong
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: Ansheng
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Oded
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: Dani
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hak
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Paniccia