Integrated silicon structures with optical gain mediated by rare-earth-doped tellurium-oxide-coating

An integrated optical device comprising:

• a substrate;
• a dielectric layer formed on said substrate, said dielectric layer having a refractive index less than that of silicon;
• a silicon waveguide formed on said dielectric layer;
• a silicon-based laser cavity formed on said dielectric layer, said silicon-based laser cavity comprising:
• a silicon resonant base structure;
• and
• a doped tellurium oxide layer formed on said silicon resonant base structure, said doped tellurium oxide layer comprising a rare earth dopant;
• and
• wherein said silicon-based laser cavity is optically coupled to said silicon waveguide such that when pump laser energy having a suitable wavelength is delivered to said silicon waveguide, at least a portion of the pump laser energy is coupled to said silicon-based laser cavity for excitation of said rare earth dopant within said doped tellurium oxide layer;
• and
• wherein a thickness of said doped tellurium oxide layer and a concentration of said rare earth dopant are selected to facilitate gain and lasing for at least one resonant mode within said silicon-based laser cavity in response to excitation of said rare earth dopant by the pump laser energy, said at least one resonant mode having a modal volume that extends from said silicon resonant base structure into said doped tellurium oxide layer.

An integrated optical device comprising:

• a substrate;
• a dielectric layer formed on said substrate, said dielectric layer having a refractive index less than that of silicon;
• a silicon waveguide formed on said dielectric layer;
• a silicon-based laser cavity formed on said dielectric layer, said silicon-based laser cavity comprising:
• a silicon resonant base structure;
• and
• a doped metal oxide layer formed on said silicon resonant base structure, said doped metal oxide layer comprising a rare earth dopant;
• and
• wherein said silicon-based laser cavity is optically coupled to said silicon waveguide such that when pump laser energy having a suitable wavelength is delivered to said silicon waveguide, at least a portion of the pump laser energy is coupled to said silicon-based laser cavity for excitation of said rare earth dopant within said doped metal oxide layer;
• and
• wherein a thickness of said doped metal oxide layer and a concentration of said rare earth dopant are selected to facilitate gain and lasing for at least one resonant mode within said silicon-based laser cavity in response to excitation of said rare earth dopant by the pump laser energy, said at least one resonant mode having a modal volume that extends from said silicon resonant base structure into said doped metal oxide layer.