Carbon Nanotube for Photonics: Light emission in silicon and optical gain

Carbon nanotubes are more and more considered for future use in microelectronics. On the other hand, the use of optics to overcome the limitation of metallic interconnects start to be considered as a viable solution. Carbon nanotubes are promising candidate to bridge the gap between optics and microelectronics, thanks to their ability to emit, modulate and detect light in the wavelength range of silicon transparency. In this proceeding, we will first underline the use of carbon nanotube for photonics. We will then show that thin film doped with semiconducting carbon nanotubes displays strong optical gain at a wavelength of 1.3 mu m. Finally, we will report the integration of carbon nanotube thin layer with silicon waveguide, and present the successfull coupling of their absorption and emission properties. This leds to the demonstration of temperature independent emission from carbon nanotubes in silicon at a wavelength of 1.3 mu m.