High-Performance Integrated Rad-Hard Coherent Receivers for Satellite Optical Communications

An integrated coherent high sensitivity optical receiver containing a widely tunable laser will be designed and fabricated. This is achieved using a radiation hardened Indium Phosphide materials platform. This will provide a key required component for practical coherent communications systems; a single chip-scale integrated receiver structure containing a balanced detector pair, optical coupler, a widely tunable laser and semiconductor optical amplification. It is expected that this device will provide wide optical bandwidth, high tolerance to environmental and external shocks, low weight and high sensitivity, while reducing the number of required optical interfaces.