Heteroepitaxially Integrated Compound Semiconductor Optical Devices with Silicon or Silicon Nitride On-Chip Waveguides

A III-V/SiNx hybrid integrated photonics platform is described. A wafer can include regions where SiNx waveguides are formed and regions where III-V waveguides have been grown heteroepitaxially from the Si substrate and formed lithographically to butt couple to the SiNx waveguides. Efficient optical coupling is possible between the SiNx and III-V waveguides (-2.5 dB loss/transition). A threading dislocation density (TDD) as low as 4×106 cm2 can be obtained in the III-V waveguides. The TDD enables fully parallel fabrication of integrated III-V optoelectronic devices, allowing for complex photonic integrated circuits with many active components.