Monolithic optical receiver using InP/InGaAs heterojunction FETs

Over the past few years, considerable progress has been made worldwide towards narrowing the performance gap between the new monolithic receiver designs for use in long wavelength communication systems and the conventional PIN-FET hybrid optoelectronic receivers which are used in current systems. Progress has been assisted by the adoption, where possible, of fabrication procedures closely related to the more mature GaAs IC technology, such as full-wafer processing, planar structures, multilevel metallisation for interconnect, and elimination of multiple epitaxial growth steps. This paper presents one such technology, based around InP/InGaAs heterojunction FETs (HJFETs) and grown-junction InGaAs pin diodes, which has been used to make both simple high-impedance front ends and more advanced transimpedance receiver designs, capable of driving 50 Omega loads. Recent improvements in receiver performance are also presented.<
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