Abstract

The implementation of very high bit rate long-haul optical communication systems requires the availability of high-speed, high-sensitivity optical photoreceivers suitable for use in the 1.55-μm wavelength range. Although such systems have been constructed using hybrid technologies, recent advances in monolithic integration of photodetectors and electronic devices on InP substrates is beginning to make monolithic photoreceivers practical. Device technologies that have been used successfully to implement receivers with effective bit rates of over 10 Gbit/s include modulation-doped field-effect transistor- (MODFET) and heterostructure bipolar transistor-(HBT) based amplifiers coupled to p-i-n photodiodes and metal-semiconductor-metal photodetectors (MSM-PDs). Presently the highest reported bandwidths for these technologies in the low-loss, low-dispersion fiber window at a wavelength of 1.55 μm are 23 GHz for PIN/HBT,¹ 11 GHz for PIN/MODFET,² and 15 GHz for MSM/MODFET.³ The best reported sensitivities for monolithic receivers operating at 10 Gbit/s or higher are -20 dBm at 10 Gbit/s for PIN/HBT and -17.6 dBm at 12 Gbit/s,⁴ -16.5 dBm at 10 Gbit/s for PIN/MODFET.⁵ In this work, we report a further advance in the implementation of photoreceivers based on MSM-PDs and MODFETs, with a -3-dB bandwidth of 18 GHz and a sensitivity at a bit-error-rate of 10⁻⁹ of -17.5 dBm at 10 Gbit/s inferred from noise power measurements.

© 1996 Optical Society of America