InP-based photonic circuits: Comparison of monolithic integration techniques

A review is given of techniques to integrate passive and active, optical and optoelectronic, functions within one photonic circuit. Different platforms have been developed to realize these circuits in a planar geometry on an indium phosphide substrate. The physical background of these techniques will be described and an evaluation will be given regarding their strong and weak points. An in-depth treatment will be given of two of the integration techniques, which have not yet been thoroughly described in literature: a polarization-based integration scheme (POLIS) and an active passive regrowth technique. Finally, an outlook on the future of the different photonic integration techniques is presented. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.