Dr. Jeehwan Kim

The integration of high-performance compound optoelectronic materials with silicon remains a central challenge for scalable photonic systems. Our research develops two complementary routes for monolithic three-dimensional integration of photonic materials and devices on silicon.

The first is transfer-based monolithic 3D integration enabled by remote epitaxy. Compound-semiconductor heterostructures are epitaxially grown on graphene-coated source wafers, released as ultrathin single-crystalline membranes, and precisely integrated onto silicon wafers. This platform enables the heterogeneous integration of a broad range of InP- and GaAs-based optoelectronic devices, including lasers and micro-LEDs, while preserving their crystalline and optical quality. We have recently extended this strategy to highly active electro-optic materials. By releasing and integrating these materials as ultrathin membranes, we can strongly confine and modulate light, providing a pathway toward highly energy-efficient electro-optic modulators on silicon.

The second route is growth-based monolithic 3D integration. We have developed a new approach for directly growing ultrathin, dislocation-free compound-semiconductor materials on silicon. This method eliminates post-growth release and transfer, allowing high-quality optoelectronic materials to be formed directly on silicon wafers and laterally coupled with silicon photonic components.

Together, these transfer-based and growth-based approaches provide complementary pathways for integrating compound-semiconductor light sources, emitters, modulators, and silicon photonic circuits. This talk will present the underlying materials technologies, integration mechanisms, and emerging device opportunities enabled by these two monolithic 3D photonic platforms.

Biography:

Jeehwan Kim is a tenured Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering at MIT and Director of the MIT Display Center. Before joining MIT in 2015, he worked at IBM T. J. Watson Research Center, where he was named a Master Inventor. His research focuses on innovative material growth and integration technologies for next-generation electronics and photonics, including remote epitaxy, single-crystalline membrane integration, and monolithic three-dimensional integration. His work has been recognized by the DARPA Young Faculty Award and Director’s Fellowship, the LAM Research Foundation Award, the IBM Faculty Award, the Samsung Fellowship, and the 2024 Falling Walls Science Breakthrough of the Year in Engineering and Technology.