Epitaxial Liftoff Integration of a GaAs Multiple Quantum Well Modulator Array onto Si VLSI for Optical Signal Processing

The need for increased processing speed in advanced computing systems is straining the limits of purely electronic systems. Opto-electronic systems may represent the future form of implementation of high throughput data processing systems. The components that are selected for Opto-Electronic data processing systems have to meet the requirements of both high speed and low power dissipation. GaAs/AlGaAs Multiple Quantum Well (MQW) Spatial Light Modulators (SLM) exhibit low switching power and very high speed. Moreover, they operate at voltages which are compatible with Si VLSI technology 1 . These make them attractive in high density optical information processing systems such as optical correlators. Thin film integration between Si integrated circuits and MQW modulators can be done by Epitaxial Lift-Off (ELO) technique. A major advantage of ELO is that Si circuitry and GaAs MQW modulators can be optimized individually and then integrated together resulting in improved yield and performance.