| Silicon laser breakthrough augurs hyperfast computers |
Sep. 18, 2006
 Intel and the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) claim to have jointly built the world's first electrically pumped hybrid silicon laser using conventional chip-fabrication technologies. The breakthrough aims to enable low-cost, ultra-high-speed computing devices, including terabit/sec optical links between devices, Intel and UCSB announced on Sept. 18.
(Click for larger view of John Bowers and hybrid silicon laser die)
The joint R&D project was tasked with developing silicon-based "photonic" devices using standard high-volume chip-fabrication processes, with a goal of fabricating chips containing 10 to hundreds of hybrid silicon lasers.
To create the silicon-based laser chips, the team says it combined silicon, which is a poor light emitter, with Indium Phosphide-based materials, which are "great light emitters." In order to overcome the high costs of manufacturing Indium phosphide lasers, the team developed a design and a manufacturing process in which the two disparate materials are bonded together with a unique "glass glue."
The resulting hybrid chips combine the light-emitting properties of Indium Phosphide with the light-routing capabilities of silicon. The result, according to the team, is that "When voltage is applied, light generated in the Indium Phosphide enters the silicon waveguide to create a continuous laser beam that can be used to drive other silicon photonic devices."
The low-cost, silicon-based laser technology is expected to expand the use of photonics in computers, resulting in faster computing devices in the future.
"This could bring low-cost, terabit-level optical 'data pipes' inside future computers and help make possible a new era of high-performance computing applications," stated Mario Paniccia, director of Intel's Photonics Technology Lab.
"While still far from becoming a commercial product, we believe dozens, maybe even hundreds of hybrid silicon lasers could be integrated with other silicon photonic components onto a single silicon chip," Paniccia added.
The approach "could be a solution for large-scale optical integration onto a silicon platform. This marks the beginning of highly integrated silicon photonic chips that can be mass produced at low cost," added UCSB professor of electrical and computer engineering John Bowers.
The project is part of a long-term Intel research program to "siliconize" photonics using standard silicon manufacturing processes, Intel said.
Bowers, who has worked with Indium Phosphide-based materials and lasers for more than 25 years, including techniques to bond dissimilar materials together to create new devices with improved performance.
Further details are available on Intel's website, here. In particular, the site has a number of interesting short videos available for viewing, which describe and discuss the silicon laser technology, and how it can be built into chips and systems. A good starter is this one (WMV file download), but there are others worth watching.
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