Abstract

Optical powering of optoelectron integrated circuits (OEICs) significantly improves their performance in high density photonic systems as compared to conventional designs employing electrical powering of circuits.¹ Here optical powering replaces the dc bias lines with integrated photovoltaic (PV) cells in each pixel. The PV cell is illuminated with an external light source (e.g. laser) and converts this optical power beam into electrical power which subsequently drives the circuitry within that pixel. The total absence of the parasitic capacitances and inductances in the optical beam reduces inter-pixel cross-talk as compared with conventional dc bias lines. This leads to significantly increased bandwidths in the optically powered case. In addition, optical powering reduces interconnection complexity associated with routing bias lines to each pixel in a high-density, two dimensional array. An optically powered interconnection system has already been demonstrated in hybrid form.^2,3 In this present work, we discuss an integrated optoelectronic logic circuit in which the power and control are both provided using optical sources.

© 1991 Optical Society of America