Patent ID: 7039258

Claim:
An integrated optoelectronic device on a monolithic substrate comprising: a plurality of optical modulating elements coupled in series, where the plurality of optical modulating elements has an optical input port and an optical output port, each of the plurality of optical modulating elements has an electrical input port for modulating the propagation properties of a guided optical wave propagating in a respective one of the plurality of optical modulating elements, and at least one of the plurality of optical modulating elements comprises a two terminal silicon PN diode wherein a depletion region can be varied according to a bias voltage for varying a refractive index; wherein the refractive index variation modulates the propagation properties of the guided optical wave; and a plurality of amplifiers, where each of the plurality of amplifiers has an input port, an output port and each output port is coupled to the electrical input port of a respective one of the plurality of optical modulating elements.