10-gb/s operation of an In/sub 0.53/Ga/sub 0.47/As p-i-n photodiode on metamorphic InGaP buffered semi-insulating GaAs substrate

The SONET OC-192 receiving performance of In/sub 0.53/Ga/sub 0.47/As p-i-n photodiode grown on linearly graded metamorphic In/sub x/Ga/sub 1-x/P buffered GaAs substrate is reported. With a low-cost TO-46 package, such a device exhibits a frequency bandwidth up to 8 GHz, a bit-error rate (BER) of 10/sup -9/ at 10 Gb/s, a sensitivity of -17.8 dBm, and a noise equivalent power of 3.4/spl times/10/sup -15/ W/Hz/sup 1/2/ owing to its ultralow dark current of 3.6/spl times/10/sup -7/ A/cm/sup 2/. Eye diagram analysis at 10 Gb/s without transimpedance amplification reveals a statistically distributed Q-factor of 8.21, corresponding to a minimum BER of 1.1/spl times/10/sup -16/ at receiving power of -6 dBm.