Silicon Microchannel Nanocrystal Multiresonator Laser

To address the Air Force Research Laboratory, Space Vehicles Directorate need for innovative lasing technologies for satellite signal distribution, Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposes to develop a new Silicon Microchannel Nanocrystal Multiresonator Laser (Nano MULA). This proposed device is based on silicon microchannel technology and Si/SiO^2 waveguides. The innovations in Nano MULA especially the capability to pump the Nano MULA electrically rather than optically will enable the silicon device to lase, and potentially result in a ten-thousand-fold increase in data transfer rates, significantly reducing weight and power consumption for signal distribution. As a result, this device technology offers the fabrication of controllable waveguides, a combination of conventional semiconductor processes, and a novel scheme of utilizing nanocrystal media in arrays, which directly addresses the MILSATCOM platform requirements for all-silicon lasing, dose radiation tolerance, and thermal stability. In Phase I, POC will demonstrate the feasibility of achieving a lasing effect in a Silicon MCP Nano MULA diode structure under external laser pumping. In Phase II, POC plans to develop a prototype to show the direct electron-hole injection lasing effect in Nano MULA. BENEFIT: The commercialization of this development will benefit the nation by improving on-chip computer technologies that are entirely based on silicon materials, and the aerospace industry because it improves optical communication in MILSATCOM systems in a cost-efficient manner. The potential market for this technology spans both the private sector and the government, including the military.