10-Gb/s millimeter-wave signal generation using photodiode bias modulation

We present a simple 120-GHz-band millimeter-wave (MMW) modulation method that uses the bias-voltage dependence of unitraveling-carrier-photodiode output power, which we call photodiode (PD) bias modulation. We investigated the dependence of the output-power-saturation mechanisms on the bias voltage. We used a lowpass filter in the bias circuit to increase the modulation bandwidth, and the 3-dB modulation bandwidth was over 7 GHz. We demonstrated the modulation of 120-GHz MMW signals at a data rate of 10 Gb/s using PD bias modulation.