Demonstration of a visible laser on silicon using Eu-doped GaN thin films

We report the demonstration of visible laser action on silicon. We have utilized Eu-doped GaN for the active medium within a structure consisting of multiple AlGaN layers grown by molecular-beam epitaxy on a Si substrate. Stimulated emission was obtained at room temperature from Eu3+ at 620nm, with a threshold of ∼117kW∕cm2. Values of modal gain and loss of ∼100 and 46cm−1 were measured. This demonstration indicates that utilizing rare earths a range of lasers on Si can be obtained, covering the UV, visible, and IR regions, thus enabling a significant expansion of optoelectronic and microelectronic integrations.