Optoelectronic interconnections for III-V devices on silicon

Claim 1

An integrated GaAs light emitting structure and light detection structure including a Si semiconductor substrate with epitaxial layers deposited thereon in which one of the epitaxial layers is an active light emitting GaAs layer extending in a longitudinal direction, the light being emitted through an edge of said layer and another layer comprises a light detecting layer for detecting externally generated light; the improvement comprising: (a) an optical fiber coupled to said light from said edge for transmitting light from said light emitting layer; (b) an area of the Si semiconductor substrate extending beyond the edge; and, (i) an etched groove in the surface of aid area of extended Si substrate and extending in said longitudinal direction and centered in line with the edge, said groove being of a depth compatible with the diameter of said optical fiber so that when such fiber is positioned in said groove, the core of said fiber is at the same elevation as said edge, (ii) a silicon amplifier device formed on said extended Si substrate, (iii) a GaAs light detector formed on said extended Si substrate and electrically coupled to said silicon device such that externally generated light is detected by said GaAs detector and converted to electrical signals and coupled to said silicon device and amplified.