Advances in quantum dot lasers and integration with Si photonic integrated circuits by Yating Wan

Abstract:
Si photonics has emerged as a disruptive opto-electronic device technology with a scaling capability on integration and energy efficiency. As the most promising integration platform, Si photonics demands on-chip laser sources that dramatically improve capability, while trimming size and power dissipation in a cost-effective way for volume manufacturability. The central theme of my research is to develop high-performance quantum dot (QD) lasers directly integrated on industry standard Si substrates for on-chip optical interconnects. A subset of recent advances includes record-long device lifetime on Si, isolator-free system demonstration, ultra-low dark current QD photodetectors, submilliamp threshold microcavity lasers, first tunable single wavelength QD lasers, a pathway towards high-volume, low-cost transceivers that can be scaled to beyond 1 Tbit/s, and device integration with waveguides, amplifiers, photodetectors, and lasers on a single chip. A number of breakthroughs have now made Si photonics an appealing platform for photonic integration from both the cost and the performance standpoint. The same forces that drove the evolution of discrete optical modules to photonic integration on a single chip will continue to shape the evolution of photonic integrated circuits to meet the ever-increasing demands on lower cost, size, weight, and power (cSWaP) while delivering equal or better performance than their predecessors.
Speaker : Yating Wan obtained received Ph.D. (2017) in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and was selected as the winner of the School of Engineering PhD Research Excellence Award 2016-17. She has published 33 first-author journal (23)/conference(10) papers, including 7 prestigious covers (Optica, Laser & Photonics Review(3), Applied Physics Letter, Photonics Research, ACS Photonics), 3 invited talks (2018 CLEO, 2018 PIERS, 2018 ACP), 1 postdeadline conference paper (2017 CLEO), and 1 book chapter (selected as the cover of 《Future Directions in Silicon Photonics》). She has also published 20 other co-authored papers and served as a referee for more than 40 peer-reviewed journals in IEEE, OSA, and the Nature Publishing Group (Google Scholar Citations on 12/18/2021: 1622, h-index: 22). For her pioneering work in integration of long wavelength quantum dot devices on Si, she received 2016-17 School of Engineering PhD Research Excellence Award in HKUST, 2021 CLEO Tingye Li Innovation Prize, 2018 PIERS Young Scientist Award, 2018 Rising Stars Women in Engineering Asia, and 2020 Rising Stars 2020 Women in EECS. She is now a Postdoctoral fellow at of University of California, Santa Barbara in Prof. John Bowers' group, and is in the process of being promoted to a scientist position. Her current research includes Si photonics, optical communications, photonic integrated circuits, and quantum photonics. She is currently an Assistant Profession at king abdullah university of science and technology.