Recent advances in nonlinear optics have revolutionized integrated photonics, providing on-chip solutions to a wide range of new applications. Currently, state of the art integrated nonlinear photonic devices are mainly based on dielectric material platforms, such as Si₃N₄ and SiO₂. While semiconductor materials feature much higher nonlinear coefficients and convenience in active integration, they have suffered from high waveguide losses that prevent the realization of efficient nonlinear processes on-chip. Here, we challenge this status quo and demonstrate a low loss AlGaAs-on-insulator platform with anomalous dispersion and quality (Q) factors beyond 1.5 × 10⁶. Such a high quality factor, combined with high nonlinear coefficient and small mode volume, enabled us to demonstrate a Kerr frequency comb threshold of only ∼36 µW in a resonator with a 1 THz free spectral range, ∼100 times lower compared to that in previous semiconductor platforms. Moreover, combs with broad spans (>250 nm) have been generated with a pump power of ∼300 µW, which is lower than the threshold power of state-of the-art dielectric micro combs. A soliton-step transition has also been observed for the first time in an AlGaAs resonator.

Low-cost, small-footprint, highly efficient, and mass-producible on-chip wavelength-division-multiplexing (WDM) light sources are key components in future silicon electronic and photonic integrated circuits (EPICs), which can fulfill the rapidly increasing bandwidth and lower energy per bit requirements. We present here, for the first time to our knowledge, a low-noise high-channel-count 20 GHz passively mode-locked quantum dot laser grown on a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor compatible on-axis (001) silicon substrate. The laser demonstrates a wide mode-locking regime in the O band. A record low timing jitter value for passively mode-locked semiconductor lasers of 82.7 fs (4–80 MHz) and a narrow RF 3 dB linewidth of 1.8 kHz are measured. The 3 dB optical bandwidth of the comb is 6.1 nm (containing 58 lines, with 80 lines within the 10 dB bandwidth). The integrated average relative intensity noise values of the whole spectrum and a single wavelength channel are $-152\mathrm{dB}/\mathrm{Hz}$ and $-133\mathrm{dB}/\mathrm{Hz}$ in the frequency range from 10 MHz to 10 GHz, respectively. Utilizing 64 channels, an aggregate total transmission capacity of 4.1 terabits per second is realized by employing a 32 Gbaud Nyquist four-level pulse amplitude modulation format. The demonstrated performance makes the laser a compelling on-chip WDM source for multi-terabit/s optical interconnects in future large-scale silicon EPICs.

Laser gain regions using quantum dots have numerous improvements over quantum wells for photonic integration. Their atom-like density of states gives them unique gain properties that can be finely tuned by changing growth conditions. The gain bandwidth can be engineered to be broad or narrow and to emit at a wide range of wavelengths throughout the near-infrared. The large energy level separation of the dot states from the surrounding material results in excellent high temperature performance and gain recovery at sub-picosecond timescales. The fact that the quantum dots are isolated from each other and act independently at inhomogeneously broadened wavelengths results in ultralow linewidth enhancement factors, highly stable broadband mode-locked lasers, single-section mode-locking, and the possibility of reduced cross-talk between amplified signals at low signal injection and enhanced four-wave mixing at high signal injection. The high carrier confinement and areal dot density provide reduced sensitivity to crystalline defects allowing for long device lifetimes even when epitaxially grown on silicon at high dislocation densities.

The mode-locked laser diode has emerged as a promising candidate as a signal source for photonic radar systems, wireless data transmission, and frequency comb spectroscopy. They have the advantages of small size, low cost, high reliability, and low power consumption, thanks to semiconductor technology. Mode-locked lasers based on silicon photonics advance these qualities by the use of highly advanced silicon manufacturing technology. This paper will begin by giving an overview of mode-locked laser diode literature, and then focus on mode-locked lasers on silicon. The dependence of mode-locked laser performance on design details is presented.

Tunable semiconductor lasers are often listed in critical technology road maps for future dense-wavelength-division-multiplexing (DWDM) systems and high-performance computing systems, and they are increasingly demanded in long-haul, metropolitan, and access networks. The capability to produce such lasers directly on silicon (Si) could boost the use of Si photonics and facilitate the adoption of optical data transmission even at the chip scale. Moreover, just the use of Si as a cheap and large-diameter substrate for device production is very advantageous, as the fabrication can take advantage of the highly optimized processing techniques and economy of scale enabled by decades of development in Si microelectronics. Here, we report a tunable single-wavelength quantum dot (QD) laser directly grown on Si. The high carrier confinement and a real dot density of QDs provide reduced sensitivity to crystalline defects, which allows for exceptional lasing performance even in lattice-mismatched material systems. The discrete density of states of dots yields unique gain properties that show promise for improved device performance and new functionalities relative to the quantum well counterparts, including high temperature stability, low threshold operation, reduced sidewall recombination, and isolator-free stability. We implement a simple, integrable architecture to achieve over 45 dB side-mode-suppression-ratio without involving regrowth steps or subwavelength grating lithography. Under continuous-wave electrical injection at room temperature, we achieved a 16 nm tuning range with output powers of over 2.7 mW per tuning wavelength. This work represents a step towards using III–V/Si epitaxy to form efficient, easily manufacturable on-chip Si light sources for not only DWDM networks, but also spectroscopy, biosensors, and many other emerging applications.