Patent ID: 8781283

Claim:
An apparatus comprising: a first semiconductor slab comprising a silicon material and including a top silicon layer and a first vertical boundary, wherein the first vertical boundary comprises a material with a lower refractive index than silicon and is either: included in the top silicon layer; or formed as a layer separate from the top silicon layer; a second semiconductor slab above the first semiconductor slab comprising a III-V material and including: a top and a bottom charge carrier layer; an active layer disposed between the charge carrier layers; electrical contacts coupled to the first or the second semiconductor slab, the active layer to receive charge carriers from the charge carrier layers in response to an electrical difference applied to the electrical contacts; and a ridge included in at least the top charge carrier layer; at least one overclad region coupled to the ridge of the second semiconductor slab; and an optical waveguide included in the first and second semiconductor slab and formed, at least in part, by the ridge, wherein the ridge to laterally confine the optical mode of the optical waveguide, the first vertical boundary of the first semiconductor slab and the overclad region(s) to vertically confine an optical mode of the optical waveguide.