Asymmetric Activation‐Driven Quasi‐Direct Bonding of InP/LiNbO<sub>3</sub> Heterointerfaces for Scalable Quantum Photonics
Abstract Lithium niobate (LiNbO 3 ) has emerged as a powerful phase‐stable and efficient platform for precise light manipulation but lacks deterministic single‐photon sources. Hybrid integration with InP via plasma‐activated bonding offers a viable solution to achieve high‐precision aligned (sub‐50 nm) on‐chip quantum emission. Although plasma enhances surface metastability and lowers the covalent bond formation barrier, its limited subsurface modulation (several to tens of nanometers) restricts interfacial polymerization, hindering evanescent coupling heterointerface formation. An asymmetric‐activation driven quasi‐direct bonding strategy to construct InP/LiNbO 3 heterointerfaces by the targeted introduction of an ultrathin (10 nm) Al 2 O 3 layer on the InP surface is proposed. Combined with the asymmetric plasma activation, the flawless interface with a bonding strength of 8.3 MPa is achieved at 80 °C, demonstrating the effectiveness of Al 2 O 3 to balance the InP surface metastability and subsurface relaxation. Moreover, the void‐free interface further demonstrates the feasibility of Al 2 O 3 as the outgassing micro‐channel to promote the diffusion of gas by‐products. In addition, a hybrid quantum photonic device is designed to simulate the influence of Al 2 O 3 on the evanescent coupling efficiency. This work emphasizes the critical role of Al 2 O 3 in synergistic control of surface metastability and subsurface modulation, advancing scalable heterogeneous integration for quantum photonics.
Authors
- Fei Ding (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2923-4815)
- Yudong Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7142-2249)
- Haibo Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1828-3750)
- Qiushi Kang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-0108-2175)
- Y BAI (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-2459-5530)
- Chenxi Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0576-1055)
- Yu Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7029-396X)
- Qidong Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9176-5583)
- Renxi Jin
Institutions
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Harbin Institute of Technology (CN)
- Institute of Microelectronics (SG)
- State Key Laboratory on Integrated Optoelectronics (CN)
- Institute of Microelectronics (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Advanced Materials Technologies
- Published
- 2025-05-29
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/admt.202500742
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Photonic and Optical Devices
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.73
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China