Monolithic Nanoscale Photonics-Electronics Integration in Silicon and Other Group IV Elements

Introduction: Scope and Purpose of Book

Everybody is in some way or another acquainted with or affected by the enormous impact of integrated electronics and integrated circuits (ICs). They have shaped virtually all aspects of our social, professional, and cultural lives. Their development saw its beginning in the 1960s with the emergence of ICs, awarded with the Nobel Prize in 2000. The material of choice has been mainly silicon which exists in abundance on the earth and its development is hugely aided by the existence of a natural passivating oxide, protecting the crystalline circuits.

At the same time, in the 1960s and maybe inspired by the unfolding of integrated electronics, another concept saw the light at the famed Bell Labs: integrated ...