Vertical Integration of Polymer Electro-Optic Devices on Electronic Circuits

A major topic of research in the opto-electronics field over the last decade has been the integration of photonic devices with electronic circuits. The major hurdle here is the fabrication incompatibility of the different material systems required for electronics and photonics. Most integrated photonic devices with applications in fiber communications are fabricated from compound semiconductors (lasers, modulators, detectors) or from crystalline dielectrics (modulators). On the other hand Si electronics (or GaAs for high speed) are highly developed and available through semiconductor foundries. To integrate this well developed electronics technology with conventional photonics technology has required techniques like flip chip bonding, epitaxial liftoff, solder bump technology and other forms of hybrid integration.