Integrated Optical Link on Si Substrate Using Membrane Distributed-Feedback Laser and p-i-n Photodiode

On-chip optical interconnection is a promising technology for wiring future large-scale integrated circuits, as a means to mitigate the considerable power dissipation of traditional wiring layers. Here, we fabricate an integrated optical link using a membrane distributed-feedback (DFB) laser and a p-i-n photodiode (PD) in a butt-jointed built-in coupling geometry. The optical link is formed on a Si substrate by benzocyclobutene bonding. The integrated DFB laser shows a low-threshold current of 0.48 mA. Light transmission between the DFB laser and the p-i-n PD is confirmed with static measurements of the optical link. The optical link has a 3-dB bandwidth of 11.3 GHz at a 2.73 mA DFB laser bias current and a -3 V p-i-n PD bias voltage. A data transmission experiment of the optical link is performed, using a nonreturn to zero, pseudorandom-bit-sequence with a word length of 2(31)-1 signals. With a DFB laser bias current of 2.5 mA, 10 Gbit/s data transmission with a bit-error-rate of 6 x 10(-7) is successfully achieved.