Lateral current injection photonic crystal membrane emitters bonded to sapphire

Photonic crystal (PhC) membrane lasers are promising candidates for future photonic integrated circuit applications [1] due to their small mode volume [2], low threshold [3], and lithographically tunable wavelength [4]. However, practical methods for electrical injection have been difficult to achieve. Room temperature, pulsed electrically injected lasing has been realized using a suspended membrane with a vertical post [5], though the fabrication method is difficult to reproduce. Lateral current injection (LCI) [6] - with n and p regions defined by ion implantation - allows for more reliable fabrication, and has recently been demonstrated to yield continuous wave (CW) electrical injection at cryogenic temperatures [3]. Here we propose a design and demonstrate preliminary results for a LCI PhC membrane laser bonded (post-process) to a sapphire substrate. We observe significant modification of the room temperature laser properties with simultaneous optical and electrical pumping, as well as optical amplification in a photonic crystal waveguide.