Perspectives in Optoelectronics

Book excerpt: Optoelectronics is a rapidly expanding field of research and development. In years to come, it is destined to play a primary role in the growing information industry. The basic philosophy behind the science and technology of optoelectronics is to create and develop photonic devices in which optical photons (light waves) instead of electronic carriers, are manipulated for the conventional task performed by microelectronics. Thanks to the availability of large bandwidth at optical frequencies, the development of cost-effective low-loss low-dispersion silica fibers for optical transmission, and the possibility of ultra-fast two-dimensional processing, the field of present-day microelectronics is moving steadily towards this new technology of optoelectronics and photonics.This volume presents reviews of different areas of optoelectronics written by international experts in the field, covering most of the topics of recent importance. It includes detailed discussions on semiconductor lasers and optical amplifiers; optical fiber transmission; photodetectors; optoelectronic and photonic integrated circuits; light-wave telecommunications; optical signal and image processing; optical computing; nonlinear and integrated optics; space-time Fourier optics; optical metrology and sensing and optical interconnects. All chapters are written in the style of a textbook containing tutorial sections which should be of great use to graduate students. The volume should serve as an excellent book for graduate level course on optoelectronics, modern optical engineering, and optical communications.