ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines several related areas in the use of optics in information processing. There are three main sections on, respectively, the physics of optics and electronics for digital information processing, the physics of electroabsorption in semiconductors, and the potential application of both of these to dense optical interconnects. Optics and electronics have several similarities and differences, which lie at the root of the advantages and disadvantages of each for use in information processing. One obvious benefit of the short wavelength of light is the ability to use imaging optics. Another of the less obvious advantages of optics, which stems from its short wavelength, relates to impedance matching. A final benefit that could be attributed to the short wavelength of light is the ability to use wavelength-division multiplexing, that is, to send the information on one optical channel on several different wavelengths, thus allowing several information channels on the one physical channel.
