Alternative fabrication scheme for microscale semiconductor lasers
A systematic study of a simple and general structure for on-chip semiconductor lasers by A*STAR researchers sets the scene for much broader application of integrated semiconductor lasers beyond conventional silicon-based systems. The ability to use, manipulate and sense light is applicable to many technologies, from data interconnection and fiber optics to optical sensors and optical storage systems. One such non-silicon-based application is a new type of data storage system called heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR), which researchers at the A*STAR Data Storage Institute have been working on as a next-generation data storage technology. HAMR uses integrated lasers for fast and precise micro-spot heating of a magnetic medium, but requires the laser to be formed on aluminum-titanium-carbide (AlTiC) rather than silicon. This presented Chee-Wei Lee and his colleagues with a significant problem, since the silicon substrate plays in integral role in producing the laser light. ...