Light-emitting polymer on CMOS: a new photonic technology?

A new hybrid optoelectronic technology has been developed which utilizes a very thin layer of light emitting polymer material on a CMOS silicon active-matrix substrate to create a 2-D array of independently programmable optical emitters. The technology has been developed thus far primarily for its use as a microdisplay. Here we detail aspects of device design and characterization. We consider the relevance of the new technology to optical and photonic systems other than displays.