Dynamic and nonlinear properties of epitaxial quantum dot lasers on silicon for isolator-free integration

This work investigates the dynamic and nonlinear properties of quantum dot (QD) lasers directly grown on silicon with a view to isolator-free applications. Among them, the chirp parameter, also named the α_H factor, is featured through a thermally insensitive method analyzing the residual side-mode dynamics under optical injection locking. The α_H at threshold is found as low as 0.32. Then, the nonlinear gain is investigated from the gain compression factor viewpoint. The latter is found higher for epitaxial QD lasers on silicon than that in heterogeneously integrated quantum well (QW) devices on silicon. Despite that, the power dependence of the α_H does not lead to a large increase of the chirp coefficient above the laser’s threshold at higher bias. This effect is confirmed from an analytical model and attributed to the strong lasing emission of the ground-state transition, which transforms into a critical feedback level as high as −6.5 dB, which is ∼19 dB higher than a comparable QW laser. Finally, the intensity noise analysis confirms that QD lasers are overdamped oscillators with damping frequencies as large as 33 GHz. Altogether, these features contribute to fundamentally enhancing the reflection insensitivity of the epitaxial QD lasers. This last feature is unveiled by the 10 Gbit/s error-free high-speed transmission experiments. Overall, we believe that this work is of paramount importance for future isolator-free photonics technologies and cost-efficient high-speed transmission systems.