Photoresponses of metamorphic double heterojunction photodiodes under high power optical illumination

Our previous study on double heterojunction InGaAs/InGaAlAs/InAlAs metamorphic photodiodes has shown photodiodes with dark currents as low as 500 pA, responsivity of 0.6 A/W, and bandwidths up to 38 GHz. In this paper, we report our results on the high power handling capability of metamorphic photodiodes under high power optical illumination up to 10 dBm. In ultra-high speed optical fiber communication systems operating at 40 Gbit/s or beyond, the photodiodes that can handle high optical input power are needed because an EDFA (erbium doped fiber amplifier) is often placed in front of the photoreceiver. It is imperative to study the frequency response of the metamorphic photodiodes under high power optical illumination to prove that these photodiodes based on metamorphic technology can be a strong candidate for high speed optical fiber communications.