A Low-Noise High-Channel-Count 20 GHz Passively Mode Locked Quantum Dot Laser Grown on Si

We report, for the first time, a low noise high-channel-count 20 GHz passively mode locked quantum dot laser grown on CMOS compatible on-axis (001) silicon substrate. The laser demonstrates a wide mode locking regime in the O-band. A record low timing jitter value of 82.7 fs (4–80 MHz) and a narrow RF 3-dB linewidth of 1.8 kHz are reported. A total of 58 wavelength channels within 3 dB optical bandwidth (80 lines within 10 dB) is also shown. The integrated average relative intensity noise values of the whole spectrum and a single channel are − 152 dB/Hz and − 133 dB/Hz in the frequency range from 10 MHz to 10 GHz, respectively.