Feasibility study of integration of electro-optic polymer waveguide device with MOSFET circuitry on silicon

Systematic development of electro-optic (EO) polymers is leading to optical and material properties such that they present an increasingly viable alternative to crystalline-based technologies for integrated optics. EO polymers demonstrate an inherent velocity match between radio-frequency and optical waves, making them excellent candidates for applications in high-speed telecommunication switching and optical interconnects for VLSI circuitry. In addition, EO polymer devices are relatively simple to fabricate at conditions compatible with microelectronics industry processes, making same-substrate integration of optical and electronic circuitry possible. In this paper, we describe two vertical integration schemes whereby a polymer-based electro-optic modulator may be controlled by metal-oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) circuitry. One scheme described is an insitu integration on the same silicon (Si) substrate. The second scheme is the integration of a modulator built on a flexible substrate with a MOSFET circuit on a second Si substrate. Both schemes have potential applications for integrated electro-optics.