An integrated optical circuit is one or more circuits composed of solid-state optical components on a semiconductor or dielectric substrate. Components include light sources, optical filters, photodetectors, and thin-film optical waveguides. An example of an integrated optical circuit is an opto-isolator (or opto-coupler) which allows a circuit to interact with another one while remaining electrically buffered from it. A 2005 development solved a quantum noise problem that prevented silicon from being used to generate laser light, permitting new integrated optical circuits to use high-bandwidth laser light generated within the circuit itself as a signal medium.

This technology is of interest to computing due to;

• Optical tranmission speed is 21cm/nanosecond faster than copper.
• A lack of EMI between optical signals, eliminating crosstalk and stray capacitances in computers.

Optoelectronics