Silicon optoelectronics at the end of the rainbow

Silicon is the second most abundant element in the Earth's crust. As well as being cheap, it possesses certain physical and chemical properties that have made it the dominant material in microelectronics for over three decades. The concept of integrated circuits (ICs), conceived in the 1950s, overcame what had been called a "tyranny of numbers" problem – that of connecting and soldering together prohibitive numbers of small, discrete electronic components. But it was the 1960s, when the practical fabrication of such devices became possible, that heralded the silicon chip revolution.