Goosen, Marius EugeneDu Plessis, MonukoVenter, Petrus JohannesBogalecki, Alfons WilliAlberts, A.C. (Antonie)Rademeyer, Pieter2013-04-262013-04-262012-03Goosen, ME, Du Plessis, M, Venter, PJ, Bogalecki, AW, Alberts, AC & Redemeyer, P 2012, 'CMOS avalanche electroluminescence applications : microdisplay and high speed data communication', SAIEE Africa Research Journal, vol. 103, no. 1, pp. 24-28.http://hdl.handle.net/2263/21383All-CMOS silicon light sources, although not the choice semiconductor process for light generation, offer the possibility of large scale manufacturing, integration with digital and driver electronics as well as a wide operating temperature range. These advantages do however come at a cost of reduced efficiency, but offer significant cost advantages inherent when using a standard CMOS technology. This paper presents two applications of standard CMOS integrated light sources. A fully functional microdisplay utilising avalanche electroluminescence for visible light generation and implemented in a completely standard 0.35 μm CMOS technology is presented. The microdisplay has an operating temperature range of -50 to 125 °C, which cannot be achieved by competing microdisplay technologies. Utilising the same silicon light sources, a 10 Mb/s optical communication link is established operating at a BER of less than 10-12. The data communication link presented in this paper constitutes the fastest all-silicon data communication link achieved thus far.enSouth African Institute of Electrical EngineersOptical interconnectSilicon light emissionSilicon photonicsSiliconMetal oxide semiconductors, ComplementaryPhotonicsLight sourcesElectroluminescenceMicrodisplaysElectroluminescent display systemsData transmission systemsOptical communicationsArticle