| There is increasing interest in monolithic integrated optical circuits for OEICs, VLSI interconnects, optical communication, and optical computation. In this thesis a set of compatible, monolithically integrable optical components are proposed and their fabrication requirements are examined. The components, which form a general set of optical circuit building blocks, include straight and bent waveguides, splitters, grating couplers, and laser-based logic gates and memory elements. Using these components all-optical switches and information processors can be integrated onto a monolithic chip.;Using the OSTLE technique a monolithic optical logic gate was demonstrated. The gate, which operates via laser quenching, performed the INVERT, 2-input NOR, and 2-input NAND logic functions. Although the device was not stable when implemented as a NAND gate, the INVERT and NOR functions were stable and form a general basis for digital logic. The operation of this gate in cw mode at room temperature is believed to be a first for monolithically integrated quenched lasers.;The integrated devices are grown by planar GaAs/AlGaAs epitaxial techniques and then etched to form rib waveguide structures and artificial mirrors. A novel etching process was developed to simplify the fabrication of these devices. Known as one-step two-level etching (OSTLE), the technique can produce two different etch depths in a single etch step. OSTLE has several advantages over conventional lithography. OSTLE requires fewer processing steps than standard methods, and, of particular note, OSTLE allows self-alignment of critical optical components. |
