Digital Library

Abstract: Reliable and inexpensive discrete semiconductor photonic devices, such as CD, CDROM, and laser printer lasers, are commonly available and plentiful. Electronic integrated circuits have reached very high levels of integration and can contain more than 5 million transistors. Integrated photonic structures - those in which all of the devices are used to process only optical signals - are relatively simple, with the level of integration usually measured in single digits. The two main reasons for this are that 1) small lateral dimensions for photonic devices always present a processing challenge and 2) the optimum semiconductor layer structure is different for each optical element, complicating the growth process. In this talk, we will describe recent advances in the structures, materials, and processing of integrated photonic devices. We will introduce integrable laser resonator structures that allow controlled coupling of light between elements and avoid the complications of cleaved facets. We will outline a selective-area epitaxial growth process that allows the formation of layered structures optimized separately anywhere on the wafer for the desired functionality. Finally, we will describe some unique integrated devices that make use of these technologies.

Speaker's Biography: James J. Coleman received the B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana. He was a Member of Technical Staff at Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ (1976-1978) and at Rockwell International, Anaheim, CA (1978-1982). Since 1982 he has been a Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana. He and his students are involved in the study of quantum-well heterostructures, superlattices, strained layer lasers, laser arrays, and integrable lasers by selective area epitaxy. Professor Coleman is an Associate Editor of Photonics Technology Letters and has served as Guest Editor for two Special Issues of the IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics. He was the recipient of a Beckman Research Award in 1982 and was a Rank Prize Funds Lecturer in 1992. He is a Fellow of the IEEE, the Optical Society of America, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

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