A monolithically integrated optical differential amplifier for applications in smart pixel arrays

Author

Leipold, D. ; Kehrli, U. ; Thelen, K. ; Gulden, K.H. ; Epler, J.E. ; Schweizer, H.P. ; Patterson, B.D. ; Seitz, P.

Author_Institution

Paul Scherrer Inst., Zurich, Switzerland

Volume

7

Issue

7

fYear

1995

fDate

7/1/1995 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

757

Lastpage

759

Abstract

A cascadable, optical differential amplifier with an active output is realized in AlGaAs-GaAs by the monolithic integration of three devices: A photodiode (PD), a light-emitting diode (LED) and a combination of a photodiode and a junction field-effect transistor (PINFET). A minimum optical switching power of 15 pW, an optical gain of more than 10⁶, a contrast ratio greater than 1000 and an optical output power of 17 μW are obtained. For a contrast ratio of 10, a switching energy of 2 pJ is required, resulting in a unity gain bandwidth of 4.2 MHz.

Keywords

III-V semiconductors; aluminium compounds; arrays; differential amplifiers; gallium arsenide; integrated optoelectronics; smart pixels; 15 pW; 17 muW; 2 pJ; 4.2 MHz; AlGaAs-GaAs; PINFET; active output; cascadable optical differential amplifier; contrast ratio; junction field-effect transistor; light-emitting diode; monolithic integration; optical gain; optical switching; photodiode; smart pixel arrays; Bandwidth; Differential amplifiers; FETs; Integrated optics; Light emitting diodes; Monolithic integrated circuits; Optical devices; Photodiodes; Power generation; Stimulated emission;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Photonics Technology Letters, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1041-1135

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/68.393196

Filename

393196