Micro-transfer Printed Blue InGaN Lasers on Silicon Nitride Photonic Integrated Circuits

Abstract

Expanding integrated photonics into the blue spectral range requires high-performance light sources, making the gallium nitride (GaN) material family indispensable. While silicon nitride (SiN) platforms offer a robust, CMOS compatible passive ecosystem for visible wavelengths, seamlessly integrating GaN lasers remains a major bottleneck. Conventional heterogeneous integration methods present distinct trade-offs: full-wafer bonding achieves high throughput but requires careful management of thermal and lattice mismatches across large areas, whereas flip-chip bonding ensures high yield through pretesting but is constrained by sequential processing speed. In this landscape, micro-transfer printing (MTP) emerges as a disruptive, material-efficient alternative, bypassing these limitations by combining high-density parallel integration with known-good-die selection. Applying MTP to GaN, however, presents a significant material challenge: due to its chemical inertness and strong III-N bonds, device release typically relies on electrochemical etching, which can compromise material quality. Here, we overcome this hurdle and demonstrate the first micro-transfer printed blue lasers on a SiN platform. Using a heavily doped n-type sacrificial layer together with optimized electrochemical etching conditions, we release smooth-surfaced thin-film light sources from bulk GaN substrates. Following release, the devices are integrated and butt-coupled to SiN fork-shaped edge couplers, achieving high current densities exceeding 20 kA/cm² alongside lasing at 455 nm. These results expand the visible integrated photonic toolkit and establish a framework for multi-wavelength integration, opening new avenues for next-generation technologies including flow cytometry, quantum computing, optical communications, and augmented/virtual reality.

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BibTeX RIS

BibTeX

@misc{akritidis2026microtransfer,
  title = {{Micro-transfer Printed Blue InGaN Lasers on Silicon Nitride Photonic Integrated Circuits}},
  author = {Konstantinos Akritidis and Krzysztof Gibasiewicz and Han Wang and Iryna Levchenko and Max Kiewiet and Maximilien Billet and Mikołaj Chlipała and Karolina Peret-Malessa and Pol Van Dorpe and Henryk Turski and Bart Kuyken},
  howpublished = {arXiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = sep,
  doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.15390},
  eprint = {2609.15390},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.15390},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}

RIS

TY  - UNPB
TI  - Micro-transfer Printed Blue InGaN Lasers on Silicon Nitride Photonic Integrated Circuits
AU  - Konstantinos Akritidis
AU  - Krzysztof Gibasiewicz
AU  - Han Wang
AU  - Iryna Levchenko
AU  - Max Kiewiet
AU  - Maximilien Billet
AU  - Mikołaj Chlipała
AU  - Karolina Peret-Malessa
AU  - Pol Van Dorpe
AU  - Henryk Turski
AU  - Bart Kuyken
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/14
PB  - arXiv
DO  - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.15390
UR  - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.15390
AB  - Expanding integrated photonics into the blue spectral range requires high-performance light sources, making the gallium nitride (GaN) material family indispensable. While silicon nitride (SiN) platforms offer a robust, CMOS compatible passive ecosystem for visible wavelengths, seamlessly integrating GaN lasers remains a major bottleneck. Conventional heterogeneous integration methods present distinct trade-offs: full-wafer bonding achieves high throughput but requires careful management of thermal and lattice mismatches across large areas, whereas flip-chip bonding ensures high yield through pretesting but is constrained by sequential processing speed. In this landscape, micro-transfer printing (MTP) emerges as a disruptive, material-efficient alternative, bypassing these limitations by combining high-density parallel integration with known-good-die selection. Applying MTP to GaN, however, presents a significant material challenge: due to its chemical inertness and strong III-N bonds, device release typically relies on electrochemical etching, which can compromise material quality. Here, we overcome this hurdle and demonstrate the first micro-transfer printed blue lasers on a SiN platform. Using a heavily doped n-type sacrificial layer together with optimized electrochemical etching conditions, we release smooth-surfaced thin-film light sources from bulk GaN substrates. Following release, the devices are integrated and butt-coupled to SiN fork-shaped edge couplers, achieving high current densities exceeding 20 kA/cm^2 alongside lasing at 455 nm. These results expand the visible integrated photonic toolkit and establish a framework for multi-wavelength integration, opening new avenues for next-generation technologies including flow cytometry, quantum computing, optical communications, and augmented/virtual reality.
ER  -

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