Osamu Wada - Böcker

By combining optoelectronics with electronics, optoelectronic integration is the challenging merger of many different areas of science and technology. This text presents the basic physics, materials, fabrication techniques, and systems applications of optoelectronic integration in a concise and organized form. This book: describes fundamental device physics and III-V semiconductor growth and processing; covers the basic design and integration of lasers, photodetectors, waveguides, and transistors; reviews and analyzes optoelectronic integrated circuits (OEICs), photonic integrated circuits (PICs), and vertical optoelectronic functional device arrays; discusses packaging and systems architecture for applications in optical telecommunications, interconnections and signal processing. With numerous cross-references, end-of-chapter references and extended summaries identifying key issues and prospects in each technical area, the text should be a useful reference for engineers, scientists and students working in optoelectronics.

As we approach the end of the present century, the elementary particles of light (photons) are seen to be competing increasingly with the elementary particles of charge (electrons/holes) in the task of transmitting and processing the insatiable amounts of infonnation needed by society. The massive enhancements in electronic signal processing that have taken place since the discovery of the transistor, elegantly demonstrate how we have learned to make use of the strong interactions that exist between assemblages of electrons and holes, disposed in suitably designed geometries, and replicated on an increasingly fine scale. On the other hand, photons interact extremely weakly amongst themselves and all-photonic active circuit elements, where photons control photons, are presently very difficult to realise, particularly in small volumes. Fortunately rapid developments in the design and understanding of semiconductor injection lasers coupled with newly recognized quantum phenomena, that arise when device dimensions become comparable with electronic wavelengths, have clearly demonstrated how efficient and fast the interaction between electrons and photons can be. This latter situation has therefore provided a strong incentive to devise and study monolithic integrated circuits which involve both electrons and photons in their operation. As chapter I notes, it is barely fifteen years ago since the first demonstration of simple optoelectronic integrated circuits were realised using m-V compound semiconductors; these combined either a laser/driver or photodetector/preamplifier combination.