The development of a practical technique for monolithically integrating optoelectronic components on a semiconductor chip is necessary in order to unleash the full capacity of the optical fiber based information superhighway. This paper establishes the criteria for photonic integration, reviews the progress achieved by several techniques presently being actively studied (in particular, selective area regrowth, selective area growth, and selective area quantum well intermixing), and critiques their near and long term futures. Since practicality implies low cost which, in turn, implies simplicity in growth and processing, initial photonic integrated circuits (PIC) will likely involve a tradeoff between manufacturability and performance. Thus, elementary PICs fabricated using the simplest technologies will emerge in the marketplace first. In the longer term, as growth and processing are brought under better control, more sophisticated PICs using complex integration technologies will also become available.

Date Published: 3 November 1994
PDF: 13 pages
Proc. SPIE 10278, Defining the Global Information Infrastructure: Infrastructure, Systems, and Services: A Critical Review, 102780C (3 November 1994); doi: 10.1117/12.192183

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 10278:
Defining the Global Information Infrastructure: Infrastructure, Systems, and Services: A Critical Review
Stephen F. Lundstrom, Editor(s)