Two-Dimensional Optical Switching and Logic Arrays for Communication and Computing Systems.
Abstract
This program began with the objective of developing a novel two dimensional optical smart pixel technology that would offer the potential for achieving very- compact, very high information throughput, parallel optical data processing architectures. The technology we had chosen was based on the monolithic integration of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) with other photonic and electronic technologies. We played a leading role in the development of monolithic optoelectronic integrated circuit (OEIC) technology based on VCSELs, including heterojunction photo transistors (HPTs) and photothyristors (PNPNs), PIN and MSM photodiodes, resonance-enhanced photodetectors, and heterojunction bipolar transistor (MBT) technology. During the course of developing these technologies, we also played a role in advancing the state-of-the-art in- VCSEL technology, which was then (in 1991) in a nascent phase of development. Our major contribution to VCSEL technology occurred in 1991, when we became the first group in the world to achieve a significant improvement in the electrical characteristics of VCSELs by the continuous compositional grading of the heterointerfaces using MOCVD growth. This early impetus allowed us to achieve many different high-performance optoelectronic devices based on VCSELs, including several families of optical switches with latching, non-latching, and bistable characteristics (1991), monolithic optical logic gates (1992), reconfigurable optical routing switches (1993), programmable optical logic gates (1994), high- speed optical transceivers (1995), an optically cascaded multi-stage switching fabric (1995), and a cascadable programmable optical logic gate array (1995). Amongst our other contributions to VCSEL technology included the development of high-performance cryogenic VCSELs (1994) and cryogenic optical data links (1995), and the use of
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 06, 1996
- Accession Number
- ADA315615
Entities
People
- Julian Cheng
Organizations
- University of New Mexico