The overarching goal of this project is to develop manufacturable, monolithic integrated optoelectronic and electronic circuits by integrating III-V compound nanopillar optoelectronic devices onto silicon substrates. The objectives of this research are (1) to control the synthesis of nanostructures on silicon such that they can be placed or seeded by design and scaled for mass production and (2) develop electrically pumped lasers monolithically integrated with silicon photonics and electronics. Using metal-organic chemical vapor deposition synthesis technique, the nanopillar growth mechanism will be fully investigated to achieve precise control of growth sites, density, doping and heterostructure formation. Heterostructures are sandwich layers of different materials. Building upon that, electrically-pumped nanopillar laser with a silicon transparent emission wavelength will be designed, fabricated, and characterized. Furthermore, nanopillar lasers will be integrated onto silicon waveguides with high coupling efficiency for optoelectronic applications. Waveguides are structures that guide light or electromagnetic waves.
The development of such optoelectronic integrated circuits will bridge the gap between optoelectronic devices on III-V semiconductor platform and integrated circuits on silicon with a unique manufacturing mechanism. Its success will add novel breakthrough functionalities onto cost-effective silicon wafers with greatly reduced power consumption, size, and weight. One of its transformational impacts on our society could be bringing our personal hand-held devices to a wide spectrum of applications in healthcare, sensing, imaging, and communication. In addition, this project will result in a disruptive technology for nanomaterial manufacturing, developing a major capability that will fundamentally transform the synthesis of lattice-mismatched materials, which are materials whose crystal structures don?t match up. Together with its research activities primarily conducted by graduate students, this project will also offer interdisciplinary opportunities for high school and undergraduate students to gain hands-on experiences in cutting-edge research.
