Impact of Photodetector Defects on Optical System Performance

The influence of different photodetectors on the behavior of optical fiber transmission systems is analyzed. Laboratory analysis, including technological analysis and accelerated lifetests, were useful to find the critical parameters responsible for anomalous behaviors found in early testing of optical links. Two equivalent, but differently structured, APD´s were considered. Comparative measurements were carried out on the two components, both in laboratory and in field. The field system´s behavior pointed out a correlation between the device´s behavior and the system´s behavior.