Rochester builds all-silicon OEIC

17 Jun 2002

An all-silicon optoelectronic circuit has been developed at Rochester University. While silicon can generate light if it is etched with acid, problems in using this porous material as a light source include poor efficiency, slow speeds, and chemical instability. As these shortcomings have been addressed in the past year, it has become possible, as the new Rochester device demonstrates, to incorporate films of the porous silicon into a conventional integrated circuit. Speed, power considerations, and efficiency have to improve further, the researchers concede, if the circuits are used in practical LEDs.