Optoelectronic fiber interface design

Abstract

Recent developments in materials science have led to the development of an exciting, new class of fibers which integrate metals, semiconductors and insulators in the same codrawing process. Various electrical devices have been produced in these fibers including optical sensors, thermal sensors and even transistors. The use of these fiber devices in a variety of applications was explored. A large-scale, lensless imager, an optical communication system, a thermal sensing array and a logic gate were designed to use appropriate classes of electrically active fibers. These devices were constructed with a particular focus on testing the best ways to integrate these fibers with modern circuits. Several methods of making electrical contact with fibers are described and their failure modes are discussed and novel circuits for amplifying and measuring fiber signals are developed and presented.