Prospects for silicon monolithic opto-electronics with polymer light emitting diodes

We have fabricated a monolithically integrated photodetector and amplifier in silicon bipolar technology and organic polymer light emitting diodes (LED's) using both poly (p-phenylene vinylene) (PPV) and its soluble derivative poly (2-methoxy, 5-(2'-ethyl-hexoxy)-1,4-phenylene vinylene) (MEH-PPV). Based on the individual capabilities of the photo-receiver and LED, we have begun to evaluate the feasibility of monolithic integration of opto-electronics for silicon chip-to-chip communication using both PPV-LED's and Si photoreceivers on Si chips. LED's made from PPV and its soluble derivative such as MEH-PPV are thought to be process-compatible with Si IC technology. However, as an additional requirement, the polymer LED's must emit large enough power to be detected by the receiver with an acceptable bit-error-rate (BER).<
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