arXiv · 2607.02902
Demonstration and Design of Uni-Directional and Ultra-Low Threshold Hybrid Quantum Dot III-V/Si Micro-Ring Laser
Abstract
Micro-ring lasers (MRLs) are attractive light sources for energy-efficient optical interconnects, but their intrinsic directional bistability leads to unpredictable clockwise/counter-clockwise emission. We demonstrate stable unidirectional emission in hybrid quantum-dot (QD) III-V/Si MRLs using passive reflective feedback integrated on the bus waveguide, leaving the ring cavity unperturbed. Three reflector architectures - Y-splitter loop mirrors, adiabatic Y-splitter loop mirrors, and distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs) - are benchmarked against a reflector-free bidirectional baseline through combined experiment and coupled-mode-theory rate-equation modeling. All designs preserve ultra-low thresholds of 0.79-1.12 mA (112-158 A/cm^2, roughly an order of magnitude below prior quantum-well unidirectional ring lasers) while enhancing single-facet output power and wall-plug efficiency, with directional isolation up to 27.65 dB for the DBR. The reflectors impose no penalty on the 4-5 GHz modulation bandwidth or its thermal robustness, establishing passive external feedback as a practical route to unidirectional QD MRLs for DWDM-scale optical interconnects.
Explore related subjects
Keep this discovery
Xucheng Yang, Yingtao Hu, Antoine Descos, Yuan Yuan, Bassem Tossoun, Geza Kurczveil, Yatiraj Ramanujam, Jonathan Wierer, Raymond G. Beausoleil, Di Liang, Stanley Cheung. 2026-07-03. Demonstration and Design of Uni-Directional and Ultra-Low Threshold Hybrid Quantum Dot III-V/Si Micro-Ring Laser. https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.02902
Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.