Ultrafast Detectors Using III-V Epilayers Grown by Molecular-Beam Epitaxy at LowTemperatures Have 375-GHz Bandwidths

摘要

The trend in fiberoptic communication rates promises operating speeds exceeding100 gigabits per second (Gbit/s) by the end of this decade. High-bit-rate soliton transmission over long distances using low-loss optical fibers has been demonstrated, and high-speed semiconductor laser diodes, fiber lasers, and erbium-doped fiberoptic amplifiers are also being developed. To receive this density of optical information, however, it will also be necessary to utilize ultrafast optical detectors. In recent years, a number of solid-state high-speed detectors have been proposed and demonstrated. The vertical structure positive-intrinsic-negative (PIN) diode is the most popular, and, recently, a photodiode with a 5-ps full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) response has been demonstrated in a 5 x 5 graded double-heterostructure InGaAs/InP photodiode.