Photo-Detectors Integrated with Resonant Tunneling Diodes

• Autor(a) principal: Romeira,B
• Data de Publicação: 2013
• Outros Autores: Luís Manuel Pessoa, Henrique Salgado, Ironside,CN, Figueiredo,JML
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://repositorio.inesctec.pt/handle/123456789/4512; http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s130709464

We report on photo-detectors consisting of an optical waveguide that incorporates a resonant tunneling diode (RTD). Operating at wavelengths around 1.55 m in the optical communications C band we achieve maximum sensitivities of around 0.29 A/W which is dependent on the bias voltage. This is due to the nature of RTD nonlinear current-voltage characteristic that has a negative differential resistance (NDR) region. The resonant tunneling diode photo-detector (RTD-PD) can be operated in either non-oscillating or oscillating regimes depending on the bias voltage quiescent point. The oscillating regime is apparent when the RTD-PD is biased in the NDR region giving rise to electrical gain and microwave self-sustained oscillations Taking advantage of the RTD's NDR distinctive characteristics, we demonstrate efficient detection of gigahertz (GHz) modulated optical carriers and optical control of a RTD GHz oscillator. RTD-PD based devices can have applications in generation and optical control of GHz low-phase noise oscillators, clock recovery systems, and fiber optic enabled radio frequency communication systems.