Opto-electrical characterization of erbium-doped slot waveguides

The convergence of photonics and microelectronics within a single chip is still lacking of a monolithical on-chip optical amplifier. Rare-earth doped slot waveguides show a large potential as on-chip source. Slot waveguides with silicon nanocrystals embedded in a dielectric host matrix can increase the light confinement in the active layer and allow electrical injection. In this work, horizontal slot waveguides formed by two thick silicon layers separated by a thin erbium doped silicon rich silicon oxide layer are studied as on-chip optical amplifiers. The waveguides are grown in a CMOS line with the active material grown by low-pressure chemical vapor deposition. Optical tests are performed and light propagation in the slot waveguides is observed. Using the cut-back technique, spectra propagation losses are evaluated. Room temperature electroluminescence is observed at 1.54 μm. Transmitted optical signal resonant with Er absorption is studied as a function of the injected current for different probing laser wavelengths.