Laser light source based on acousto-optic interaction
Technical Field
The invention belongs to the technical field of integrated optics, and particularly relates to a laser light source based on acousto-optic interaction, in particular to a germanium-silicon laser light source.
Background
The silicon-based photonic technology can realize signal processing and high-performance calculation with wide bandwidth, high density, high speed and low cost, and is a key technology for next-generation communication systems and data interconnection. Silicon-based lasers provide a light source for integrated photonic devices, among which are key devices. Due to the indirect bandgap properties of silicon, its light emitting efficiency is low, and it has been a challenge to realize a highly efficient electrically pumped silicon-based laser light source.
Like silicon, germanium is also an indirect bandgap material, but its direct bandgap is only 136meV higher than the indirect bandgap, approaching the direct bandgap. Furthermore, germanium is compatible with CMOS processes and has been successfully grown on silicon substrates. Thus, epitaxial silicon germanium (i.e., germanium material is epitaxial on the surface of the silicon substrate to obtain silicon germanium) is suitable as the material of the near infrared band laser.
Sige lasers are typically implemented using processes such as strain and doping. The band gap difference of germanium can be reduced by utilizing strain or doping, so that the probability that electrons occupy a direct band gap is increased, and efficient direct band gap composite luminescence is realized. But both doping and strain can affect the quality of the germanium epitaxial layer and degrade the device performance. And the germanium-silicon laser realized by the process has a larger threshold value.
If phonons are injected into the germanium material, the electron filling rate of the direct band gap can be improved, the transition rate is improved, the gain of the photons is increased, and the laser output is realized by utilizing the acousto-optic interaction.
The photonic crystal is a material with a periodic structure, has a photonic band gap, can reduce the leakage of a sound field in a germanium material by utilizing the photonic crystal material, and is favorable for realizing a low-threshold germanium-silicon laser light source based on acousto-optic interaction.
At present, no technical scheme for realizing the germanium-silicon laser light source by utilizing phonon injection and phonon crystal exists.
Disclosure of Invention
In view of the above defects or improvement requirements of the prior art, the present invention aims to provide a laser light source based on acousto-optic interaction, especially a germanium-silicon laser light source, wherein by improving the composition, structure, etc. of the detailed components of the laser light source structure (especially a laser resonator), phonon crystal waveguides are arranged on both sides of a straight waveguide component (such as a germanium straight waveguide component or a silicon straight waveguide component), so as to limit the optical field and phonons (corresponding to the acoustic field) meeting the expected frequency requirements in the straight waveguide component, and the electron filling rate of the direct band gap of the germanium material or the silicon material is improved by phonon injection, thereby improving the transition rate; the invention combines the phonon crystal material to limit the sound field and reduce the leakage of the sound field, thereby realizing the laser light source (especially the germanium-silicon laser light source) based on the acousto-optic interaction, avoiding the prior art required for preparing the germanium-silicon laser by strain or doping and the like, and improving the performance of the device.
In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a laser light source based on acousto-optic interaction, which is characterized by comprising a straight waveguide (1) on a substrate (7), a phonon source (4) and two photonic crystal waveguides (2), wherein the straight waveguide (1) is located between the two photonic crystal waveguides (2), and two side surfaces of the straight waveguide (1) are respectively adjacent to the two photonic crystal waveguides (2); the sound source (4) is positioned at one end of the straight waveguide (1) and is used for providing phonons to the straight waveguide (1); the phononic crystal waveguide (2) is used for limiting phonons meeting the expected frequency requirement in the straight waveguide (1);
in addition, the substrate (7) is made of silicon material, and the straight waveguide (1) is made of germanium material or silicon material.
As a further preference of the invention, any one of the photonic crystal waveguides (2) has a cylindrical air pore structure with a periodic honeycomb arrangement,
when the straight waveguide (1) is made of germanium materials, the phonon crystal lattice constant of the phonon crystal waveguide (2) is 1.8-2.4 nanometers, and the ratio of the radius of the cylindrical air hole structure to the lattice constant is 0.22-0.27;
when the straight waveguide (1) is made of silicon material, the phonon crystal lattice constant of the phonon crystal waveguide (2) is 0.8-1.0 nm, and the ratio of the radius of the cylindrical air hole structure to the lattice constant is 0.22-0.27.
In a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, both end surfaces of the straight waveguide (1) are perpendicular to the extending direction of the straight waveguide (1).
As a further preferable mode of the invention, a laser resonant cavity is formed between two end faces of the straight waveguide (1), and the two end faces are cleavage faces or waveguide gratings which are formed through etching and can reflect an optical field.
In a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, the straight waveguide (1) has a cross-sectional width of 400 nm to 800 nm and a height of 200 nm to 400 nm.
As a further preferred feature of the present invention, the straight waveguide (1) is disposed in suspension on the substrate (7); preferably, the straight waveguide (1) is arranged on the substrate (7) in a suspended manner through a first support (5) and a second support (6), and the first support (5) and the second support (6) are not in direct contact with the straight waveguide (1) but are respectively in contact with two photonic crystal waveguides (2), so that the photonic crystal waveguides (2) are supported and the straight waveguide (1) is suspended relative to the substrate (7).
As a further preferred aspect of the present invention, the first support (5) and the second support (6) are both made of silicon material; preferably, the straight waveguide (1) is made of germanium material, and a slit (3) is further arranged on the straight waveguide (1), and the slit (3) is preferably arranged on the inner sides of two sides of the straight waveguide (1) and used for providing a passage of corrosive; the corrosive agent is only used for corroding silicon materials to form a hollow structure so as to correspondingly form the first support (5) and the second support (6).
As a further preferred aspect of the present invention, when the straight waveguide (1) is a germanium material, the frequency of the phonon provided by the phonon source (4) is 1.90THz to 1.95 THz;
when the straight waveguide (1) is made of silicon material, the frequency of the phonon provided by the phonon source (4) is 4.30 THz-4.40 THz.
As a further preferred aspect of the present invention, the refractive index of the material used for the photonic crystal waveguide (2) is smaller than the refractive index of the material used for the straight waveguide (1).
Compared with the prior art, the technical scheme of the invention has the advantages that the phonon source for inputting phonons to the straight waveguide is arranged, the phonon crystal waveguides capable of limiting the transmission of the phonons to the outside of the straight waveguide are arranged on the two sides of the straight waveguide, and the influence of the phonons on the straight waveguide material (such as a germanium material or a silicon material) is utilized to realize the germanium-silicon laser light source or the silicon-based laser light source based on the acousto-optic interaction. The straight waveguide in the invention can adopt germanium material and silicon material; germanium material corresponds to phonon frequencies around 1.93THz (e.g., 1.90THz to 1.95THz), while silicon material corresponds to phonon frequencies around 4.34THz (e.g., 4.30THz to 4.40 THz). For example, when the sound source injects a sound field into the germanium material straight waveguide, the phonon crystal waveguide limits the sound field in the suspended straight waveguide to generate enhanced acousto-optic interaction in the straight waveguide, the electron filling rate of the direct band gap of the germanium material is increased, the transition rate is increased accordingly, wherein the phonon gain and the photon gain are both larger than the loss, and the phonon-photon laser effect is formed to generate laser output.
The refractive index of the material used for the photonic crystal waveguide in the present invention is preferably less than the refractive index of the material used for the straight waveguide (e.g., germanium material); taking germanium material as an example of the straight waveguide, by controlling the cylindrical air hole structure with periodic honeycomb arrangement of the photonic crystal waveguide, the lattice constant of the photonic crystal is 1.8-2.4 nm, and the ratio of the radius of the cylindrical air hole to the lattice constant is 0.22-0.27, the phonon with the frequency of 1.90-1.95 THz and the like and the frequency of 1.93THz and the like can be effectively limited in the straight waveguide.
The straight waveguide is preferably a suspended structure, so that a sound field can be limited in the straight waveguide, the acousto-optic interaction is enhanced, and the electron filling rate of a direct band gap is increased, so that the transition rate is improved, and the low-threshold germanium-silicon laser light source is realized.
The invention firstly introduces phonons with specific frequency into a silicon-based or germanium-silicon laser light source (especially a resonant cavity component of the laser light source), and realizes the silicon-based laser light source and the germanium-silicon laser light source by limiting a sound field and utilizing acousto-optic interaction (a substrate adopts a silicon material, when a straight waveguide still adopts the silicon material, the laser light source is the silicon-based laser light source, and when the straight waveguide adopts the germanium material, the laser light source is the germanium-silicon laser light source). The invention utilizes the photonic crystal waveguide and preferably utilizes the suspended structure of the straight waveguide to realize the regulation and the limitation of the sound field. When the straight waveguide is made of germanium materials, for the phonon crystal waveguide, the phonon crystal lattice constant is preferably 1.8-2.4 nanometers, the ratio of the radius to the arrangement period is 0.22-0.27, phonons with the frequency of 1.90-1.95 THz can be effectively limited in the straight waveguide, and the phonons with the frequency can participate in acousto-optic interaction to generate a larger transition rate. For a straight waveguide adopting a silicon material, by controlling a cylindrical air hole structure with periodic honeycomb arrangement of a photonic crystal waveguide, the lattice constant of the photonic crystal is controlled to be 0.8-1.0 nm, and the ratio of the radius of the cylindrical air hole to the lattice constant is controlled to be 0.22-0.27, so that phonons with the frequency of 4.30-4.40 THz and the like and the frequency of 4.34THz and the like can be effectively limited in the straight waveguide. The optimized phononic crystal waveguide structure parameters, the structure parameters of the straight waveguide and the suspended waveguide structure enable a sound field and a light field to be better overlapped in the straight waveguide, and acousto-optic interaction can be further enhanced. The refractive index of the material of the phononic crystal is selected to be smaller than that of the straight waveguide, so that the limitation on the sound field is considered, and the limitation on the light field is facilitated.
Drawings
Fig. 1 is a top view of a sige laser light source structure based on acousto-optic interaction according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a sige laser light source based on acousto-optic interaction according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of the arrangement of the honeycomb-shaped arranged cylindrical air holes of the phononic crystal structure provided by the embodiment of the present invention.
The meanings of the reference symbols in the figures are as follows: 1 is a straight waveguide, 2 is a photonic crystal waveguide, 3 is a slit, 4 is a phonon source, 5 is a first support, 6 is a second support, and 7 is a substrate.
Detailed Description
In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more apparent, the present invention is described in further detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the invention and are not intended to limit the invention. In addition, the technical features involved in the embodiments of the present invention described below may be combined with each other as long as they do not conflict with each other.
The straight waveguide is made of germanium materials for example, and the germanium-silicon laser light source based on acousto-optic interaction can comprise a straight waveguide, a phonon crystal waveguide, a slit, an acoustic source, a first support, a second support and a substrate; the straight waveguide is made of germanium materials, the substrate is made of silicon materials, and the straight waveguide can be deposited on the silicon substrate in advance in an epitaxial mode;
wherein, the straight waveguide is a laser resonant cavity; the phononic crystal waveguide is a circular air hole structure which is periodically arranged in a honeycomb manner; the slit is a channel for dripping corrosive agent (such as hydrogen fluoride solution and the like); the phonon source is used for generating a sound field suitable for acousto-optic interaction, and can be an electroacoustic transducer; the first support and the second support are used for supporting the straight waveguide and the phonon crystal to suspend the straight waveguide; the first support, the second support and the phononic crystal may confine the acoustic field in a straight waveguide.
The germanium-silicon laser light source based on acousto-optic interaction is shown in figure 1 in a structural plan view and comprises a straight waveguide 1, a phonon crystal waveguide 2, a slit 3 and a phonon source 4; the phonon source generates phonons to be injected into the straight waveguide of the germanium material, the phonon frequency is preferably the optimal phonon frequency of the intermediate band gap transition of the germanium material, and the injection of the phonons improves the intermediate band gap transition rate of the germanium material; meanwhile, the straight waveguide is suspended relative to the substrate, the photonic crystal waveguides on two sides of the straight waveguide have a limiting effect on a sound field with specific frequency, and the limited sound field frequency is completely determined by the structural parameters of the photonic crystal waveguides (the corresponding relation between the structural parameters of the photonic crystal waveguides and the sound field frequency can refer to the related prior art, such as beam-in-laid 29764, in the morning, research on the mode characteristics of honeycomb photonic crystal slab waveguides [ J ] scientific and technological innovation and application, 2017(01): 64-65.; the limited sound field frequency can be judged in advance according to actual needs and correspondingly set by the structural parameters of the corresponding photonic crystal waveguides, taking the photonic frequency limited in the straight waveguide as 1.93THz as an example, the photonic crystal waveguides can adopt a cylindrical air hole structure with periodic honeycomb arrangement, the lattice constant of the photonic crystal is 1.8-2.4 nanometers, and the ratio of the cylindrical air hole radius to the lattice constant is 0.22-0.27); meanwhile, the refractive index of the material of the photonic crystal waveguide is smaller than that of the material of the straight waveguide, so that the optical field is confined in the straight waveguide, and the optical field characteristics are completely determined by the structural parameters of the straight waveguide (the corresponding relation between the structural parameters of the straight waveguide and the optical field characteristics can refer to the related prior art, such as m.nedeljkovic et al, "Surface-grading-Coupled Low-Loss Ge-on-Si Rib Waveguides and multimodes Interferometers," ieee Photonics Technology Letters, 27, No.10, pp.1040-1043,15may15, 2015.; the cross section of the straight waveguide can be set to be 400 nm to 800 nm in width and 200 nm to 400 nm in height, such as 400 nm to 500 nm in width and 200 nm to 300 nm in height, such parameter setting can realize better overlapping of the optical field mode and the acousto-optic mode, further enhancing the interaction, and the straight waveguide cross section is perpendicular to the straight waveguide; the acoustic field and the optical field limited in the straight waveguide of the germanium material generate enhanced acousto-optic interaction, the electronic filling rate of the direct band gap is improved, the transition rate is increased, and the gain of photons is improved; two end faces of the straight waveguide are perpendicular to the extension direction of the straight waveguide, and can be cleavage faces or waveguide gratings etched to form a laser resonant cavity to generate laser output.
In this example, the two sides of the straight waveguide are photonic crystal waveguides, and the sound field is limited by the photonic crystal waveguides, cannot be transmitted to the two sides, and can only be transmitted along the straight waveguide, so that the regulation and the limitation of the sound field are realized, and the transmission characteristic of the sound field is mainly determined by the structural parameters of the photonic crystal.
In this example, the refractive index of the material of the straight waveguide is higher than that of the material of the photonic crystal waveguide, the optical field is limited in the straight waveguide, and the optical field characteristic is controlled by the structural parameters of the straight waveguide, which is beneficial to enhancing the acousto-optic interaction in the straight waveguide and improving the transition rate.
The phononic crystal waveguide 2 is used for limiting phonons of expected frequencies in the straight waveguide 1; the desired frequency may be preset, and may be, for example, the optimum phonon frequency for acousto-optic interaction in the germanium material, around 1.93THz (e.g., 1.90THz to 1.95 THz). Correspondingly, the phonon frequency generated by the phonon source 4 can also be the optimum phonon frequency for acousto-optic interaction in the germanium material, namely, the optimum phonon frequency is around 1.93THz (such as 1.90 THz-1.95 THz).
The schematic cross-sectional view of the germanium-silicon laser light source based on acousto-optic interaction is shown in fig. 2, the upper end faces of the support 5 and the support 6 only support the photonic crystal waveguide and are not in contact with the straight waveguide, so that the straight waveguide is completely suspended relative to the substrate, the sound field is prevented from being directly leaked on the substrate, the limiting effect on the sound field is enhanced, the acousto-optic interaction is further enhanced, the transition rate is improved, the suspended structure is favorable for reducing the loss of the light field, and the threshold value of the laser is reduced.
The straight waveguide is preferably a suspended structure, the slit 3 is located at two sides (i.e. two inner sides, as shown in fig. 1) of the straight waveguide, the slit 3 can be used as a channel for dropping an etchant such as hydrogen fluoride to etch the first support 5 and the second support 6, and the etchant is only used for etching silicon materials and does not damage the straight waveguide 1. The upper edges of the first support 5 and the second support 6 only support the photonic crystal waveguide 2 without contact with the straight waveguide 1 (the photonic crystal waveguide 2 may be in close contact with the straight waveguide 1 by means of, for example, ultraviolet curing glue bonding or direct bonding). Also, to avoid the negative effect of the slits 5 on the waveguide transmission, the width of the slits 5 can be set to be less than 20nm, as shown in fig. 1, and the slits can be distributed periodically on the straight waveguide 1, and the ratio of the length to the period can be less than 0.5. Besides the slit mode, the suspension of the straight waveguide can also be formed by other modes. Of course, the straight waveguide may also be a non-floating structure (i.e., the straight waveguide is directly in contact with the substrate), only when the conduction efficiency is slightly reduced. The slit on the straight waveguide is an optional structure and is not necessary.
In the present invention, both end surfaces of the straight waveguide 1 are perpendicular to the extending direction of the straight waveguide 1 (i.e., the straight direction of the straight waveguide), and since a laser resonator is formed between both end surfaces of the straight waveguide, other parts not described in detail all satisfy the conventional requirements of the laser resonator.
According to the invention, the suspended structure of the straight waveguide 1 and the photonic crystal waveguide 2 are utilized to reduce the loss of a sound field, the suspended structure is beneficial to reducing the loss of the light field, the reasonable setting of the structural parameters of the straight waveguide 1 enables the light field and the sound field to be better overlapped, the acousto-optic interaction is further enhanced, the defects that lattice defects and absorption loss are increased due to strain or doping in other germanium-silicon laser light source technologies are avoided, and the threshold value of the laser is lower due to the reduction of the loss and the enhancement of the acousto-optic interaction.
In the invention, the straight waveguide can adopt silicon material besides germanium material, and because the phonon frequency corresponding to the silicon material is near 4.34THz (such as 4.30 THz-4.40 THz), at this time, except that the phonon frequency generated by the phonon source 4 needs to be correspondingly adjusted, the phonon crystal waveguide 2 still has cylindrical air holes arranged in a periodic honeycomb manner, the lattice constant of the phonon crystal is 0.8 nm-1.0 nm, and the ratio of the radius of the cylindrical air holes to the lattice constant is 0.22-0.27. The cross-sectional dimension parameters of the straight waveguide and the like can be kept unchanged, for example, the cross-sectional width is 400 nm to 800 nm, the height is 200 nm to 400 nm, for example, the width is 400 nm to 500 nm, and the height is 200 nm to 300 nm. Also, the straight waveguide may still preferably be a suspended structure. For example, the suspension structure of the straight waveguide may be formed by etching the supports (which need to reduce the contact area with the straight waveguide as much as possible) directly on the substrate and under the straight waveguide by selective etching, and then, by bonding with ultraviolet curing adhesive or direct bonding, the photonic crystal waveguide 2 is in close contact with the straight waveguide 1; in this case, the straight waveguide does not need to have a slit structure.
It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the invention, and that any modification, equivalent replacement, or improvement made within the spirit and principle of the present invention should be included in the scope of the present invention.