Abstract

Due to the limitations of electrical interconnections, and the lack of compact optical logic elements, it may be advantageous to implement architectures requiring a high degree of parallelism and interconnectivity with a hybrid system which utilizes the massive interconnection potential of optics, while performing logic functions in electronics. This paper describes the development of an AlGaAs/GaAs based integrated optoelectronic cellular array (IOCA) in which each cell consists of an electronic processing element together with optoelectronic devices which perform the I/O function. Topics to be discussed in this paper include: potential applications of the IOCA, limits to scalability of the array, the choice of the optoelectronic components utilized in the chip, and the fabrication of integrable optoelectronic devices.

© 1989 Optical Society of America