title: Enhanced 1.54 μm emission in Y-Er disilicate thin films on silicon photonic crystal cavities.
abstract: We introduce an Y-Er disilicate thin film deposited on top of a silicon photonic crystal cavity as a gain medium for active silicon photonic devices. Using photoluminescence analysis, we demonstrate that Er luminescence at 1.54 μm is enhanced by coupling with the cavity modes, and that the directionality of the Er optical emission can be controlled through far-field optimization of the cavity. We determine the maximum excitation power that can be coupled into the cavity to be 12 mW, which is limited by free carrier absorption and thermal heating. At maximum excitation, we observe that nearly 30% of the Er population is in the excited state, as estimated from the direct measurement of the emitted power. Finally, using time-resolved photoluminescence measurements, we determine a value of 2.3 for the Purcell factor of the system at room temperature. These results indicate that overcoating a silicon photonic nanostructure with an Er-rich dielectric layer is a promising method for achieving light emission at 1.54 µm wavelength on a silicon platform.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Pavia, Via Bassi 6, 27100 Pavia, Italy. roberto.losavio@unipv.it
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lo Savio
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Miritello
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shakoor
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cardile
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Welna
authors.forename: L C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Andreani
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gerace
authors.forename: T F
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Krauss
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: O'Faolain
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Priolo
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Galli
mesh_terms: D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D008029:Lighting / Q000295:instrumentation*; D008163:Luminescent Measurements / Q000295:instrumentation*; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D017785:Photons; D012031:Refractometry / Q000295:instrumentation*; D012825:Silicon / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D020349:Surface Plasmon Resonance / Q000295:instrumentation*
chemical_list: D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D012825:Silicon