OPTOELECTRONIC DEVICES COMPRISING BURIED WIDE BANDGAP HIGH THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY MATERIAL

Optical devices and methods of fabricating the same are provided. An example of the disclosed optical devices includes an epitaxial mesa formed on a silicon substrate and a single crystal semiconductor material layer formed between the silicon substrate and the epitaxial mesa. The single crystal semiconductor material layer comprises a bandgap that is wider than a bandgap of the epitaxial mesa. The example optical device also includes a semiconductor device layer formed between the single crystal semiconductor material layer and the epitaxial mesa. Examples of the optical devices include vertical injection optical devices, which can include an optically active region. In these examples, the bandgap of the single crystal semiconductor material layer is wider than a bandgap of the optically active region.