Optoelectronic & Optical Device Fabrication Facility

Optoelectronic components and sub-assemblies are the building blocks of almost all appliances we use today. The backbone and the front end of contemporary data-com and telecom equipment, systems, and networks all utilize devices such as photodetectors, semiconductor lasers, light-emitting diodes, waveguides, optical fibers, photonic crystal circuits, micro-switches, etc. The fabrication of such devices with added functionality and intelligence requires the integration of processes that combine microelectronics, micro-optics, and quantum phenomena on the microscopic and nanoscale level. The Center, as part of its mission, will develop new materials, novel devices, integration, and packaging process technology. As part of such an effort, the fabrication facility will be a key part of the Center’s program, where faculty, graduate students, and post-doctoral fellows will conduct research to implement and test innovative concepts and ideas. In turn, they will acquire new expertise and training to develop new optoelectronic devices and subassemblies. Equipment in the Optoelectronic and Optical Device Fabrication Facility will include a rapid sol-gel system, sub-micron precision mask alignment system, and reactive ion-etching systems.