Ultracompact Position-Controlled InP Nanopillar LEDs on Silicon with Bright Electroluminescence at Telecommunication Wavelengths

Highly compact III–V compound semiconductor active nanophotonic devices integrated with silicon are important for future low power optical interconnects. One approach toward realizing heterogeneous integration and miniaturization of photonic devices is through nanowires/nanopillars grown directly on silicon substrates. However, to realize their full potential, the integration of nanowires/nanopillars with silicon-based electronics must be made scalable via precise control of nanopillar site and dimensions. Here we demonstrate the first electrical-pumped InGaAs/InP multiquantum-well (MQW) light emitting diodes (LED) using nanopillar array directly grown on a Si substrate with site control, with current conduction directly through the silicon. The growth is via catalyst-free, low-temperature metal organic chemical vapor deposition, which is CMOS compatible. We report excellent optical properties including long minority carrier lifetimes and room-temperature lasing under optical pumping. InGaAs/InP quantum wells are incorporated in the nanopillars in a core–shell growth mode, to obtain silicon transparent emission of ∼1510 nm with high internal quantum efficiency (∼30%). Despite its small footprint, a high output power (4 μW) was measured, and the device could be electrically biased to produce optical gain. CMOS-compatible site-controlled growth and electrically driven long-wavelength emission make the InP nano-LED an ideal component in advanced photonic integrated circuits.