An Optoelectronic Thyristor based High Bandwidth Photoreceiver

A novel photoreceiver is proposed based upon the optical sensitivity , gain and impedance transformation properties of an optoelectronic thyristor and HFET integrated circuit. The thyristor is implemented as a vertical cavity device and is compatible withcomplementary HFET digital/analog electronics or complementary bipolar analog/digital gates in a monolithic technology. The thyristor is designed as a resonant vertical cavity detector/laser with current blocking barriers on either side resulting in veryradiation-hard detection. Strained quantum well GaAs epitaxial growth produces natural emission frequencies of 0.98mm, 1.3mm or 1.55mm. The long wavelengths are obtained by the incorporation of N in the range 1-4% With the absence of natural oxides, theHFET/CHFET electronics are radiation tolerant with transistor thresholds of ¿0.3V providing ideal noise margins. The thyristor performs digital/analog detection in the off state and produces laser emission in the on state. Using CHFET integrated logic, asmart pixel functions as an emitter, modulator or detector depending on the applied voltages. As a dual function transceiver, the thyristor optimally implements a bidirectional link as needed for space-based laser communications with expected BER's of10GHz.The thyristor/FET will enable practical very high speed photoreceivers. The smart pixel formats will enable a diverse number ofapplications ranging from computer buses, AD converters, optical data links and optical memories. The integrated approach is the key to reduced cost and improved reliability.