Abstract

More than twenty years have passed since the concept of "Optical Integrated Circuits" was proposed, and their theory, design, fabrication, and evaluation have improved greatly. Distinguished features of recent optical IC devices are 1) larger-scale substrates, 2) low-loss waveguides, 3) a higher degree of integration, 4) higher speed, 5) a higher degree of function, 6) frequency multiplexing, 7) alignment stability, and 8) nonlinear-optic effects. These aspects will be discussed using several examples.

© 1993 Optical Society of America