Title: A study in contrasts: epitaxial integration of III-Vs with dielectrics for novel lasers
Abstract: This talk will highlight our recent progress in molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) regrowth of laser structures that harness the contrasting properties of III–V semiconductors and dielectric materials to realize new device architectures. In the first part of the talk, I will describe efforts to integrate red AlInGaP-based laser diodes on a SiN/Si photonics platform for trapped ion qubit technology. Through a combination of selective and non-selective III-V growth, we show that dislocation-tolerant InP quantum dots grown in “pockets” are a promising active region material for butt-coupled visible gain [1]. In the second part, I will describe our group’s work on 1.5 µm photonic crystal surface-emitting lasers (PCSELs). For this work, we developed a selective MBE growth method to encapsulate nanoscale SiO2 features with single-crystal InP. Optically pumped laser results [2] will be presented along with ongoing work to realize electrically injected devices. 1. Y. Wang, C. Heidelberger, J. Plant, D. Kharas, P. Dhingra, R. B. Kaufman, X. Fang, B. D. Li, R. D. Hool, J. Dallesasse, P. W. Juodawlkis, C. Sorace-Agaskar, and M. L. Lee, "Embedded growth of visible InP quantum dot lasers in silicon nitride photonic integrated circuits," Optica 12, 1697 (2025). 2. E. M. Raftery, D. Lee, B. J. Thompson, K. Chow, W. K. North, M. L. Lee, and K. D. Choquette, "Photopumped Buried Dielectric Photonic-Crystal Surface-Emitting Lasers," IEEE Photonics Journal 17, 1–5 (2025).
About the Speaker: Minjoo Larry Lee received his Bachelor’s degree from Brown University and his Ph.D. from MIT, both in materials science. In 2008, he joined Yale University as an assistant professor in EE, and in 2016, he joined the ECE department at UIUC, where he is now a Professor and Director of the Holonyak Micro and Nanotechnology Lab. His research focuses on epitaxial materials and devices, and he is the author of over 190 papers and conference proceedings. He is an Optica Fellow and a recipient of the DARPA Young Faculty Award and NSF CAREER award. His advisees have won 15 best presentation prizes at international conferences, and he has been honored for his teaching in circuits, electromagnetics, and IC fabrication.
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