Organic photonics: materials and devices strategy for computational and communication systems

Abstract

It is pointed out that passive and electroactive organic optical materials open new possibilities for fabricating enhanced and novel photonic devices. Low deposition temperatures and benign chemistry permit multiple-layer structures and integration of the organic materials directly with semiconductor electronics. The electrooptical properties of the active organics are comparable to or larger than conventional semiconductor and crystalline ceramic materials, and allow replacement of these materials with the electrooptical organics. The fabrication and optical characteristics of optical organics make possible the formation of monolithic packages applicable to control of signals in computational and communication systems. Photonic multichip modules, hybrid optical/electronic nonlinear systems, and phased-array optics are technologies that can be realized more effectively with organic photonics.<>