SBIR Phase I: Wavelength-Selective Lasers for Photonic Integrated Circuits

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will address the commercial need for novel wavelength-selective laser diodes for 10 Gigabit Ethernet applications. Current state-of-the-art devices are fabricated using an expensive, low-yield, epitaxial regrowth process. The drawbacks of this method are the high costs of both the required capital equipment and the operation. In addition, the lower yields encountered with the multiple regrowths required to fabricate complex photonic circuits make cost-effective integrated photonic components difficult to achieve. The company has developed a novel high-yield manufacturing method and laser diode design that will enable the fabrication of low-cost wavelength-selective and tunable laser diodes in InP for optical communications. If successful the results of this project will enable the practical manufacture of integrated photonic devices using practical semiconductor manufacturing techniques, reducing costs for high-bandwidth Internet services. Photonic components with increased levels of optical integration are needed for fiber optic communications. Currently, devices are produced using etch and/or epitaxial regrowth technologies that are difficult to manufacture or increase the surface area of devices near p-n junctions.