抄録
An overview of researches on semiconductor membrane lasers is presented. The membrane structure,
which consists of very thin III-V core layers sandwiched by low index dielectric or air claddings, can
enhance optical confinement to the III-V layers. This enhancement enables very low threshold current
and highly efficient laser operation. An on-chip optical interconnection is one of the applications for
membrane photonic integrated circuits toward large scale data center computing. Such application will
require over 0.16 mW output power and 10 Gbit/s modulation with an operating current less than 1 mA.
In theoretical calculations, these requirements can be met by membrane laser structures. In actual
devices, a threshold current of 250 μA was achieved and a modulation efficiency of 9.9 GHz/ mA was
demonstrated with InP-based membrane structure on Si substrate.
