TABLE OF CONTENTS Prof. Jos L. Cruz Rivera
University of Puerto Rico, Mayagu ez
Prof. Thomas K. Gaylord
Georgia Institute of Technology
Prof. Elias N. Glytsis
Georgia Institute of Technology
Define Optoelectronics
Describe the advantages of optical over electrical interconnections and indicate the market size in the context of an electronic system
Introduce and define fundamental technologies that constitute the optoelectronic system
Describe various optoelectronic configurations
Optoelectronics is beginning to emerge as the third wave of microsystem technologies, fueled by the invention of laser, low loss optical fibers and their packaging. The advantage of photons in synergy with electrons, called optoelectronics, is becoming the pillarstone of today s and tomorrow s Internet traffic. This chapter presents the fundamentals of this emerging technology.
Optoelectronics is defined as the combination of photonics and microelectronics. When these are packaged together, they provide the capacity to generate, transport and manipulate data at phenomenal rates. The terms photonics and optoelectronics are used interchangeably and they usually refer to the coexistence of electrons and photons in the same system. Even though the advantages of photonics, such as speed and noise immunity, have been known for a long time, it is only recently that optoelectronics has become an emerging new technology, paving the way for unprecedented bandwidth potential. The first transmission trunk using glass fibers invented by Corning glass, and installed by AT&T in 1983, from New York to Washington, D. C., ran at 45 megabits per second. More...
