Materials for Optielectronic Devices

As information bandwidths increase, optical technologies are playing an increasingly important role in areas which were traditionally the domain of electronics. This trend is likely to continue with optics and electronics becoming mutually compatible components of hybrid systems. The synthesis of opto-electronic semiconductor structures by molecular beam epitaxy, chemical beam epitaxy and metal-organic chemical vapor deposition are active areas od research. New organometallic precursors offer improved control of the molecular species being deposited, lower growth temperatures and impurity incorporation. As devices become more complex, improved nonlinear materials are required for optical switching and information processing. Organic polymers have considerable potential in this area because of their high molecular hyper-polarizability but considerable research is still necessary to develop practical films of oriented highly polarizable molecules. Areas where chemical insights may impact on opto-electronics technology will be highlighted.