The Engineering Research Center for Compound Semiconductor Microelectronics has the goal of developing new concepts, materials, devices and systems that would contribute to the elimination of the interconnection bottlenecks that are limiting the performance of high speed digital systems. The demands for increasing the performance of the interconnects and the development of efficient very low threshold semiconductor lasers and hi-speed GaAs based electronics combine to make the examination of optical interconnects for digital integrated circuits very promising. To fully utilize optical interconnects it will be necessary to combine high performance optical and electrical heterostructure devices in integrated devices. The vision of the ERC is to develop the engineering science base which will be needed to realize products based on compound semiconductor optoelectronic chips. Research of this type spans a wide range of topics--from fundamental studies on growth of the semiconductor materials, to device physics, device design, chip- level system simulation and test. The Research Program at the Illinois ERC has four thrusts which together should have a significant impact on the development of optoelectronic integrated circuits (OEIC). These research thrusts are optical waveguides; optical transmitters; optical receivers; systems design and support services. The ERC has been actively involved in impurity induced disordering which it has exploited for laser structures and for guiding light around bends. A SPICE-like simulator for optoelectronic circuits (iSMILE) has been developed along with a laser CAD tool called MINILASE. These simulation tools will help in the design of OEIC's and eliminate the need for actually fabricating some experimental circuits. The center emphasizes educational activities to develop engineering capability in this field.
