Gain-bandwidth product considerations for superlattice and multiquantum well avalanche photodiodes

The frequency response characterization of superlattice avalanche photodiodes (SAPDs) and the effect on the performance of multigigabit-per-second lightwave receivers is investigated. The results show that these advanced detectors should be fabricated with a short avalanche region (<1 mu m) and low residual hole ionization (k<0.1) to ensure negligible penalty for high bit rate operation for 1 to 20 Gbit/s.<
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