High-sensitivity avalanche photodiode and receiver optical subassembly technology for 100-Gbit/s ethernet

Abstract

We have developed a 25-Gbit/s avalanche photodiode (APD) with an inverted p-down, triple mesa structure and a 100-Gbit/s (4 × 25-Gbit/s) APD receiver optical subassembly (APD-ROSA). The APD-ROSA includes a monolithic four-channel APD array and an ultrasmall planar-lightwave-circuit demultiplexer. In a performance evaluation, the APD achieved a record minimum receiver sensitivity of -20 dBm and 50-km error-free transmission without an optical amplifier.