We report on theoretical and experimental studies on the microwave passive reactive matching of high speed photodetectors. Such matching networks can substantially improve the power transfer of a microwave optical link. As an example, we relate two demonstrations which have been made, at a central frequency of 2 GHz, using both commercially available pigtailed PIN photodiode and laboratory made MSM detector. In both cases, matching networks are fabricated using transmission lines and comparison with unmatched devices is made in order to determine the improvement of the power transfer. Trade-offs between working frequency, bandwidth and available improvement in power transfer are presented taking into account parasitics value and the intrinsic capacitance of the detector. The extent of such a matching scheme to monolithic integration in order to increase either working frequency or power improvement is also reported as conclusion.

Date Published: 2 May 1994
PDF: 6 pages
Proc. SPIE 2149, Technologies for Optical Fiber Communications, (2 May 1994); doi: 10.1117/12.175280

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 2149:
Technologies for Optical Fiber Communications
Gail J. Brown; Susan R. Sloan; Kenneth D. Pedrotti; Didier J. Decoster; Didier J. Decoster; Joanne S. LaCourse; Yoon-Soo Park; Kenneth D. Pedrotti; Susan R. Sloan, Editor(s)