High performance 10 Gb/s PIN and APD optical receivers

The increasing market demand for high-speed optical-transmission systems at rates of 10 Gb/s has resulted in technical challenges for suppliers of high-performance, manufacturable opto-electronic components and systems. In particular, the performance of the InP semiconductor devices, integrated circuits (ICs) and hybrid IC modules strongly influences the achievable transmission capability. An optical receiver design is presented which incorporates an InP-based p-i-n photodetector (PD) or avalanche photodetector (APD) and a GaAs HEMT pre-amplifier integrated circuit. Several aspects of the receiver design are presented, including the p-i-n PD and APD structures and performance, pre-amplifier performance, hybrid module layout and electrical simulation and results. The use of analytical techniques and theory commonly used in the design of microwave amplifiers and circuits is emphasized. Receiver test results are included which are in close agreement with predicted theoretical performance.