Design of High-Speed UTC-PD With Optimization of Its Electron Transit Performance and Parasitic Capacitance

Abstract

An 1500 nm thick collector layer is adopted in the uni-travelling-carrier photodiode (UTC-PD) to reduce the PD's capacitance, while the PD's diameter is set to be 20 μm for better saturation performance and optical coupling characteristic of a signal from a single mode fiber. By optimizing biasing voltage and input light intensity, the electric field intensity in the collector layer would be controlled to make the photo-generated electron in the UTC-PD transiting at around its peak drift velocity in the collector layer and at the same time to make the UTC-PD obtaining it minimum capacitance. Together with the optimization of the doping distribution in UTC-PD's cliff layer and its collector layer, the UTC-PD's high-speed performance and saturation performance can be further improved. An optimized 20 μm diameter UTC-PD with a simulated 106 GHz 3 dB bandwidth and 21.02 dBm output RF power at 25 GHz is designed. It proposes a discussion to realize high speed, high saturation performance UTC-PD together with high coupling efficiency from a single mode optical fiber by bringing the electric field determined drift velocity performance of its uni-traveling- carrier, the electron, into full play.