Gallium Nitride Scheme Holds Promise for Photonic Integration

Researchers from Nanjing University have proposed an active-passive photonic integration scheme that showcases a photonic integrated circuit chip that combines a light source, modulator, photodiode, waveguide, and Y-branch splitter, all based on a gallium-nitride (GaN)-on-silicon platform. What sets this approach apart, according to its developers, is that all active devices, including the light source, modulator, and photodiode, are built on the same ultraviolet InGaN/AlGaN multiple quantum-well (MQW) structure. This significantly reduces fabrication complexity and cost, they said.