Integrated Optical Transmitter and Receiver

This document reports the results of a one-year program, based on a technical proposal submitted to and accepted by DARPA, to develop a technology for realizing a GaAlAsGaAs monolithic integrated optoelectronic transmitter for high-speed fiber-optic communications applications. The primary objectives were to 1 determine a suitable approach for integrating optical and electronic devices in terms of compatible device processing and fabrication, 2 design a simplified high-speed transmitter based on the integration approach which will serve as a building block for future more sophisticated designs, 3 develop the transmitter materials technology, 4 develop the transmitter device components, and 5 fabricate and demonstrate the integrated transmitter. At the end of the programs, all of the objectives were realized except for the demonstration of a functional transmitter. A selective epitaxial growth technique using a dielectric mask was developed for processfabrication compatibility of the laser with planar ion-implanted GaAs electronic devices with 1 micron-type geometries. Based on this integration approach, a nominal 1-4 Gbs transmitter set utilizing standard cleaved mirror lasers and field-effect transistor FETGunn logic drivers was designed, processfabrication steps defined, and a fabrication mask set generated.