{"id":5601,"date":"2012-07-18T22:28:05","date_gmt":"2012-07-18T22:28:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mtlsites.mit.edu\/annual_reports\/2012\/?p=5601"},"modified":"2012-07-18T22:28:05","modified_gmt":"2012-07-18T22:28:05","slug":"recess-integration-of-vertical-cavity-surface-emitting-laser-pills-and-edge-emitting-laser-platelets-on-si","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mtlsites.mit.edu\/annual_reports\/2012\/recess-integration-of-vertical-cavity-surface-emitting-laser-pills-and-edge-emitting-laser-platelets-on-si\/","title":{"rendered":"Recess Integration of Vertical-cavity Surface-emitting Laser Pills and Edge-emitting Laser Platelets on Si"},"content":{"rendered":"

Optoelectronic devices intimately integrated on silicon integrated circuits have long been sought for optical intercon-nect applications, optical communications modules, and–more recently–neural stimulation and sensing. \u00a0Toward this end we have recently demonstrated a new heterogeneous integration technique for integrating vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) and edge-emitting laser diodes (EELs) on silicon CMOS integrated circuits [1<\/a>] <\/sup> [2<\/a>] <\/sup>.<\/p>\n

Fully processed and tested oxide-aperture VCSELs emitting at 850 nm have been fabricated as individual \u201cpills\u201d 55 \u00b5m in diameter and 8 \u00b5m tall with a disk contact on the n-type backside and a ring contact on the p-type, emitting top-side.\u00a0 Similarly, 1.55-\u00b5m emitting micro-cleaved cavity EEL platelets 5 \u00b5m thick, 150 \u00b5m wide, and 300 \u00b5m long have also been fabricated.\u00a0 Using a custom micro-pipette vacuum pick-up tool, these micro-laser pills and platelets have been placed on contact pads at the bottom of recesses etched though the dielectric over coating on a Si chip, and batch solder-bonded in place using a custom pressurized-diaphragm bonding apparatus.\u00a0 Back-end processing of the chip then continues with surface planarization, contact via formation, and interconnect metal deposition and patterning.\u00a0 An example of a completely integrated VCSEL pill appears in Figure 1.<\/p>\n

No adverse effects are seen from fabricating laser diodes as freestanding pills and platelets.\u00a0 Devices integrated in this manner show the same high performance as devices left on their native substrates and in fact have superior thermal characteristics, largely due to the better thermal conductivity of Si over that of GaAs and InP.<\/p>\n

The technique demonstrated in this work offers numerous other advantages over alternative heterogeneous integration techniques.\u00a0 Both the devices to be integrated, and the target circuit wafers, are fabricated under optimal conditions and are pre-tested and screened prior to integration to insure high yield.\u00a0\u00a0 Significantly, many different types of devices can be integrated on the same IC wafer, a feature unique to this approach.\u00a0 Furthermore, the integration process effectively avoids thermal expansion mismatch limitations and wafer diameter mismatch issues, and it is compatible with parallel assembly techniques, such as fluidic self-assembly.<\/p>\n\n\t\t