Performance of GaAs smart pixel components before and after monolithic integration of InGaP LEDs using Epitaxy-on-Electronics technology

Smart pixel technology provides the ability to integrate complex electronic circuitry with optoelectronic devices to produce signal processing capabil ities previously unattainable with a single technology. Epitaxy-on-Electron ics (EoE) is a process by which optoelectronic devices are monolithically i ntegrated with electronic circuitry in a common semiconductor material. Her e, InGaP LEDs are integrated with GaAs electronic circuitry to produce smar t pixel arrays. In this paper, the architecture and experimental characteri zation of the optical devices of a novel smart pixel implementation of an n eural network are presented. Measured performance characteristics are prese nted for the detectors and LEDs, before and after the EoE process. The expe rimental results demonstrate limitations in the performance of the detector s and LEDs for use in a full-scale implementation, however, current ongoing improvements in the EoE technology show promise to eliminate these limitat ions. (C) 1999 Optical Society of America.