Mid-Infrared Photonic Integration on InP

Photonic integration can extend the benefits of individual semiconductor devices to a wide variety of more complex applications. In the mid-infrared spectral range (mid-IR, 3-15 um), quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) based on InP have been established as versatile high-power room-temperature semiconductor light sources. InP platform can also support passive dielectric waveguides with core/cladding refractive index contrast of up to ~0.6 and low optical losses across the entire mid-IR spectral range. As a result, InP platform is a natural choice for the nascent field of mid-IR photonic integrated circuits (PICs). This talk will summarize our efforts towards the development of the first mid-IR PICs on InP for a wide range of applications.

I will first share the measurements of mid-IR optical loses in the InGaAs/InP and GaAsSb/InP waveguides and report the performance of more advanced passive mid-IR photonic components such as critically-coupled ring resonators with Q-factors over 2×105 and wavelength multiplexers in this platform. Measured mid-IR optical losses vary from as low as 0.2 dB/cm in the 5-6 um wavelength range to over 5 dB/cm at wavelengths beyond 10 um. We have also measured high values of Kerr nonlinearity and low group velocity dispersion in the InGaAs/InP and GaAsSb/InP waveguides. These properties enable on-chip mid-IR supercontinuum and frequency comb generation, which is of great interest to mid-IR spectroscopy. I will share our initial results in this direction. Finally, we will discuss different approaches for integration of active photonic devices with the passive photonic components, including integration of multiple dissimilar active regions on the same InP substrate and present pulsed and continuous-wave operation of QCL-based PICs at room temperature.

Dr. Mikhail Belkin

Professor of ECE and Chair for Semiconductor Technology, Walter Schottky Institute of the Technical University of Munich on May 3, 2024 at 10:00 AM in EB2 3001

Mikhail A. Belkin is a professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering of the Technical University of Munich and the Chair for Semiconductor Technology at the Walter Schottky Institute of the Technical University of Munich. Previously, he was a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin. His research interests are in the field of mid-infrared and THz optoelectronics, integrated photonics, nonlinear optics, and metamaterials.

Dr. Belkin received his Ph.D. degrees in Physics at the University of California at Berkeley in 2004 and did his postdoctoral work at the group of Prof. Federico Capasso at Harvard University in 2004-2008. His recognitions include Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (2016), NSF CAREER Award (2012), DARPA Young Faculty Award (2012), and AFOSR Young Investigator Program Award (2009). Dr. Belkin is a Fellow of the OSA and SPIE.

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