MONOLITHICALLY INTEGRATED BICOLOR EDGE EMITTER-DETECTOR PAIRS FOR WAVELENGTH-DIVISION MULTIPLEXING

INVESTIGATORS ARE DEVELOPING MONOLITHICALLY INTEGRATED BICOLOR EDGE EMITTER-DETECTOR PAIRS FOR WAVELENGTH-DIVISION MULTIPLEXING IN FIBER OPTIC COMMUNICATIONS. THIS DEVICE UTILIZES LATERALLY GRADED A1XGA1-XAS LAYERS FORMED BY LIQUID PHASE EPITAXIAL DEPOSITION ONTO A CONTINUOUSLY MOVING SUBSTRATE. MULTIPLE LIGHT EMITTING DIODES AND DETECTORS CAN BE COLINEARLY INTEGRATED IN THE SAME DEVICE TO EMIT/DETECT LIGHT OF DIFFERENT WAVELENGTHS. THE A1GAAS SYSTEM ALLOWS FOR COMPOSITION CONTROL SO THAT AN ARRAY OF DEVICES SENSITIVE TO DIFFERENT WAVELENGTHS CAN BE FABRICATED ON THE LATERALLY GRADED STRUCTURE. THE PROJECT EXPLORES THE LIMITS OF THE MOVING SUBSTRATE TECHNIQUE IN FORMING LATERALLY GRADED LAYERS. THE OPTOELECTRONIC INTEGRATED CIRCUIT IS BEING DESIGNED FOR OPTIMUM EMISSION AND DETECTION CAPABILITIES. RESEARCHERS HAVE EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE WITH THE DESIGN, FABRICATION, AND CHARACTERIZATION OF LEDS AND DETECTORS AS WELL AS WITH LIQUID PHASE EPITAXY-ALL OF WHICH WILL HAVE A STRONG IMPACT ON THE SUCCESS OF THIS PROGRAM.