Front End Opto-Electronics for Future Radio Communications

The innovation in this Phase II SBIR program is the development of a unique process technology that will enable the realization of a high current InP based photodetector capable of operating at increased optical power densities and with improved reliability. The process technology is an epitaxial lift-off (ELO) process in which the epitaxial material is completely removed from the InP substrate on which it is grown. The costly substrate is left intact after ELO and can be reused for additional growths, which provides a pathway to lower cost devices. The ELO process can also provide significant improvements in the thermal impedance of the high current photodetector since the substrate is completely eliminated and the remaining photodetector active material can be bonded onto a high thermal conductivity material for efficient heat removal. Alternatively, the active material can be bonded to a flexible plastic material to permit further integration with a conformal patch antenna. Materials of interest for patch antennas include flexible plastics such as Mylar.