A team of researchers from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and Intel, an industry leader, has created the world’s first electrically powered Hybrid Silicon Laser. 

While still far from becoming a commercial product, Mario Paniccia, the director of Intel’s Photonics Technology Lab, said the laser would help make possible a new era of high-performance computing applications.

“This could bring low-cost, terabit-level optical ‘data pipes’ inside future computers and …we believe dozens, maybe even hundreds of hybrid silicon lasers could be integrated with other silicon photonic components onto a single silicon chip," added Paniccia.

Silicon and Indium Phosphide-based lasers are common in today’s digital, electronics, and telecommunications equipment. Silicon works to route, detect, modulate, and amplify light, but does not effectively generate light.

The researchers used Indium Phosphide-based material to generate and amplify light while using silicon waveguide to contain and control the laser.

By using low-temperature, oxygen plasma – an electrically charged oxygen gas – a thin oxide layer is created on the surfaces of both materials. When they are heated and pressed together, the oxide layer serves as an adhesive, fusing the two materials into a chip. As soon as voltage is applied, light generated by the Indium Phosphide enters the silicon waveguide, creating a continuous laser beam that drives other silicon photonic devices.

Details of the research will appear in the October 2 edition of the Optical Society of America’s Optics Express.