Ultralow-power all-optical wavelength conversion in a silicon-on-insulator waveguide based on a heterogeneously integrated III-V microdisk laser

Ultralow-power all-optical wavelength conversion is presented for a silicon-on-insulator wire waveguide with a heterogeneously integrated III-V microdisk laser. The principle relies on the suppression of natural lasing from the microdisk laser by an external injection. No probe beam is needed in this configuration. Static wavelength conversion with a control power of 6.4 μW or even lower is achieved. The resonance and gain provided by the microdisk cavity are at the origin of such low control power. Dynamically, wavelength conversion using a 5 Gbps non-return-to-zero bit sequence is demonstrated in the proposed device. © 2008 American Institute of Physics.