Enhanced spontaneous emission at 1.55 μm from colloidal PbSe quantum dots in a Si photonic crystal microcavity

The authors report on the design, fabrication, and characterization of 1.55 mu m Si-based photonic crystal microcavity light emitters utilizing PbSe quantum dots. Efficient coupling of emission from PbSe quantum dots to Si photonic crystal membrane microcavity is achieved by inserting the quantum dots in a central air hole in the microcavity. Enhancement of spontaneous emission with linewidth of similar to 2.0 nm is observed at 1550 nm at room temperature. The Purcell factor and the spontaneous emission coupling factor are estimated to be 35 and 0.04, respectively. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.