Low-bias current 10 Gbit/s direct modulation of GaInAsP/InP membrane DFB laser on silicon.

Low-power consumption directly-modulated lasers are a key device for on-chip optical interconnection. We fabricated a GaInAsP/InP membrane DFB laser that exhibited a low-threshold current of 0.21 mA and single-mode operation with a sub-mode suppression ratio of 47 dB at a bias current of 2 mA.

High-modulation efficiency operation of GaInAsP/InP membrane distributed feedback laser on Si substrate.

The direct modulation characteristics of a membrane distributed feedback (DFB) laser on a silicon substrate were investigated. Enhancement of the optical confinement factor in the membrane structure facilitates the fabrication of a strongly index-coupled (κ(I) = 1500 cm(-1)) DFB laser with the cavity length of 80 µm and a threshold current of 270 µA. Small-signal modulation measurements yielded a -3dB bandwidth of 9.