The two main trends in the progress of ultrawide-band/high-frequency photodetectors (PD's), improving the bandwidth-efficiency product and obtaining a high saturation current, are reviewed. With respect to achieving large bandwidth-efficiency, the limiting factors and potentials of edge-coupled (waveguide, waveguide-fed, traveling-wave, periodic-traveling-wave), resonant-cavity, and refracting-facet photodiodes, as well as the avalanche photodiode are discussed. Regarding high-saturation current, the author estimated how much the space-charge effect limits the saturation current and two ways to reduce the space-charge effect are outlined. One way is to distribute the photocarriers along the edge-coupled PD's and the other is to increase the carrier velocity using a uni-traveling carrier structure. The waveguide-photodiode-based technologies that we have developed are also presented; namely the design and fabrication of a 100-GHz waveguide photodiode (WGPD), uni-traveling carrier WGPD, 60-GHz packaging, and a 20-GHz large-core WGPD for planar lightwave circuit integration. A 50-Gb/s receiver opto-electronic integrated circuit technology based on the WGPD is also presented.

Ultrawide-band/high-frequency photodetectors

Analog Optical Links presents the basis for the design of analog links. Following an introductory chapter, there is a chapter devoted to the development of the small signal models for common electro-optical components used in both direct and external modulation. However this is not a device book, so the theory of their operation is discussed only insofar as it is helpful in understanding the small signal models that result. These device models are then combined to form a complete link. With these analytical tools in place, a chapter is devoted to examining in detail each of the four primary link parameters; gain, bandwidth, noise figure and dynamic range. Of particular interest is the inter-relation between device and link parameters. A final chapter explores some of the trade offs among the primary link parameters.

Analog Optical Links: Theory and Practice

For high-bit-rate long-haul fiber optic communications, the avalanche photodiode (APD) is frequently the photodetector of choice owing to its internal gain, which provides a sensitivity margin relative to PIN photodiodes. APDs can achieve 5-10-dB better sensitivity than PINs, provided that the multiplication noise is low and the gain-bandwidth product is sufficiently high. In the past decade, the performance of APDs for optical fiber communication systems has improved as a result of improvements in materials and the development of advanced device structures. This paper presents a brief review of APD fundamentals and describes some of the significant advances

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Recent Advances in Telecommunications Avalanche Photodiodes

A mushroom-mesa structure is proposed to reduce the CR-time constant which originates from the waveguide photodiode structure. Experimental results at a 1.55-/spl mu/m wavelength show that the multimode waveguide p-i-n photodiode with mushroom-mesa structure has an electrical 3-dB bandwidth of more than 75 GHz in the frequency domain and an electrical 3-dB bandwidth of 110 GHz in the time domain. The external quantum efficiency is 50% or 0.63 A/W, which leads to a record bandwidth-efficiency product of 55 GHz for long wavelength p-i-n photodetectors. >

110-GHz, 50%-efficiency mushroom-mesa waveguide p-i-n photodiode for a 1.55-/spl mu/m wavelength

The authors propose and analyze the traveling-wave photodetector (TWPD), an edge-coupled photodetector that is capable of both a larger absolute bandwidth and a larger bandwidth-efficiency product than the waveguide photodetector (WGPD). The intrinsic RC bandwidth limitation is increased in the traveling-wave photodetector by providing for controlled transmission of the electrical wave down the device in parallel with the optical wave and by eliminating bandwidth-limiting electrical reflections. It is shown that 1- mu m wide, parallel-plate, GaAs/AlGaAs, p-i-n TWPD with open-circuit input termination has a 26% greater potential bandwidth-efficiency product than the comparable WGPD, while a TWPD with matched input termination actually has a worse bandwidth-efficiency product than the WGPD. >

Traveling-wave photodetectors

A side-illuminated p-i-n photodetector with a multimode waveguide structure is proposed. Numerical and experimental results show that higher-order mode lights greatly enhance the coupling efficiency between the waveguide photodetector (WGPD) and a fiber, which leads to a high external quantum efficiency. The multimode WGPD has the major advantage that the external quantum efficiency and bandwidth can be derived independently of each other because the multimode waveguide structure can be designed without deteriorating electrical properties. The fabricated WGPD has an external quantum efficiency of 56% without AR coating and 68% with AR coating, and an electrical frequency 3 dB greater than 50 GHz at a 1.55- mu m wavelength. >

A high-efficiency 50 GHz InGaAs multimode waveguide photodetector

Calculations based on the optical coupling theory predict than an InGaAs waveguide photodiode (WGPD) consisting of a multimode waveguide configuration can be designed to obtain high sensitivity with no carrier-transit-time limitation. The fabricated multimode WGPDs demonstrate high external quantum efficiency at a 1.55- mu m-wavelength and a bandwidth of 50 GHz, which is limited by the CR-time constant. Integrating this WGPD with an input tapered waveguide can enhance the lateral coupling efficiency, leading to freedom from the CR-time-constant limitation. The WGPD with an input waveguide exhibits an external quantum efficiency that is independent of WGPD width, raising the possibility of an ultrahigh-speed and high-sensitivity WGPD. >

K. Kato

Papers

A high-efficiency 50 GHz InGaAs multimode waveguide photodetector

Design of high-speed and high-sensitivity photodiode with an input optical waveguide on semi-insulating InP substrate