Selective lateral epitaxy of dislocation-free InP on silicon-on-insulator

Abstract

Efficient on-chip laser sources of Si photonics can be built from direct epitaxy of dislocation-free III–V alloys on industrial-standard (001) Si wafers. Here, we report on selective lateral epitaxy of InP on patterned (001) silicon-on-insulators (SOIs) by metal organic chemical vapor deposition. Based on the conventional “aspect ratio trapping” approach, we created undercut patterns to alter the growth front to the lateral direction. Growth of InP inside the nano-scale SOI trenches results in dislocation-free InP crystals right atop the buried oxide layer. The intimate placement of the InP crystals with the Si device layer points to the development of dislocation-free nano-ridges for integration of efficient III–V light emitters with Si-based photonic components on SOI.