SBIR Phase II: Laser Sources for Scalable Optical Connectivity

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will be in demonstrating a new laser used for the complex computer networks of the high-performance computing (HPC) and data communications industries. HPCs are critical for studying many complex scientific phenomena. Likewise, cloud datacenters represent the backbone of the pervasive connectivity that enables mobile computing, communications, and networking. Both HPCs and datacenters are increasingly reliant on advanced techniques to link hundreds of thousands of computers. The proposed project enables new systems with improved performance, efficiency, reliability, and cost. This Small Business Innovation Research Phase II project will focus on optimizing the performance of novel semiconductor quantum dot based multiwavelength laser sources. Multiwavelength lasers with adequate output power and low noise for commercial applications have long proven challenging due to gain competition between lasing modes and dispersion. The designs and materials platform developed in this project address these challenges directly. The quantum dot gain material provides stability against the traditional barriers to multiwavelength laser performance. By optimizing material properties and device designs, the gain competition between dot sub-populations and the effects of dispersion will be minimized. This can be used for various integrated circuit chips, including ethernet switches, graphics processing units, and field-programmable gate arrays. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.