About the Project ‘Design, Synthesis and Study of III-N Wide-Bandgap Heterostuctured Materials and Microlasers with High-Quality Resonators’

Project Scope

The project is based on the idea of creating a photonic element base with a set of functional characteristics suitable for creating integrated photonic circuits based on III-N compounds. Integrated photonics circuits in general can include such functions as generation, focusing, fission, combining, polarisation, modulation, light detection, etc. The focus of this project is aimed at creating miniaturised III-N sources of coherent radiation, ie laser sources made using disk or ring resonators.

The joint project expands the range of scientific research of both teams, with the research of microlasers based on a new material system (III-N) with unique characteristics becoming possible for the HSE University team. Previously, the main direction of research was focused on GaAs-based microlasers emitting in the telecommunication range of 1.–1.3 µm. At the same time, the study of III-N microlasers is widely developed in the world scientific community due to the high practical appeal of the research results and the possibility of obtaining fundamentally new properties of emitters. For the team of the B.I. Stepanov Institute of Physics of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, the traditional field of research is epitaxy and the study of the fundamental properties of III-N materials, microwave and optoelectronic devices.

Project Objectives

• the development of technology for the synthesis of laser III-N heterostructures containing active region layers and possessing high optical gain and high quantum efficiency
• the creation of design and technology of III-N microlasers with high Q resonators (>3000) and study of their laser characteristics
• the study of the structural properties of III-N materials deposited on foreign substrates (sapphire, silicon, growth in SiN windows on silicon). Analysis of the influence of structural defects on the characteristics of microlasers
• the comparative study of different approaches of resonator formation on resonance characteristics and scattering losses on wall roughness

Fulfilling these research tasks will enrich the teams' research experience due to the complementary function of the project, the expansion of the teams' research areas, the acquisition of new skills and research methods, the increase in the teams' international competitiveness, and the strengthening of their scientific ties. The applied significance of the project results relates to the creation of supercompact sources of laser radiation in the visible range suitable for applications in biochemical detection and optical interconnections. Such laser sources can be placed in modern compact electronic and robotic systems. Lasers based on III-N materials have high chemical resistance and mechanical stability, which makes them attractive for applications in challenging environments, under mechanical stress and under conditions of harsh electromagnetic radiation.

The project involves young researchers, including undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate students. The Russian team consists of three undergraduate students, two master's students, and two postgraduate students. In the course of the project in 2024, two round tables on the project topics and three synthesis seminars with the participation of young researchers were held.