Large arrays of symmetric self electro-optic effect devices

Abstract

For optical processing to become a reality, large arrays of optical processing gates are required with low energies and fast switching speeds. Arrays of symmetric self electro-optic effect devices (S-SEEDs) with as many as 2048 devices (64 x 32) have been made using batch fabrication procedures that process an entire wafer of devices at once [1,2]. In this paper we describe the extension of that work to arrays with 8192 devices (128 x 64) and 32768 elements (256 x 128). We also demonstrate 8 x 16 arrays of symmetric SEED modulators [3] with individual electrical access to the devices. The performance and uniformity of the arrays are more than acceptable to continue systems experiments with these types of devices.