Proceedings of the Symposium on Photonics Technologies for 7th Framework Program 286

Wroclaw 12-14 October 2006

High-speed Photodiodes for Radio-on-fiber Communication Systems

Sergei Malyshev* and Alexander Chizh †
Laboratory of Semiconductor Optoelectronics, Institute of Electronics of National
Academy of Sciences of Belarus, 22 Logoiski trakt, Minsk, Belarus, 220090

ABSTARCT
The application of high-speed InGaAs/InP p-i-n photodiodes for microwave generation and frequency conversion in ra-
dio-on-fiber communication systems is discussed. The design considerations of high-speed high-power p-i-n photodiode
are provided. Based on such high-power photodiodes the photonic antenna, in which microwave signal directly drives
the antenna without amplification, can be created and used in radio base-stations of wireless communication systems.
The design considerations of the p-i-n photodiode as optoelectronic mixer for frequency up-conversion in radio-on-fiber
systems are provided. A planar InGaAsP/InGaAs/InGaAsP p-i-n photodiode has been fabricated and used for frequency
conversion of amplitude-modulated optical signals. Nonlinear properties of the p-i-n photodiode have been investigated.

Keywords: high-speed photodiodes, optoelectronic mixers, photonic antennas, radio-on-fiber communication systems .

1. INTRODUCTION
Radio-on-fiber communication systems operating at millimeter-wave frequencies are widely discussed in literature for
the provision of future wireless access networks with wider service coverage, broader bandwidth service, and larger
channel capacity [1,2]. In the typical architecture of a millimeter-wave wireless access system with optical fiber back-
haul, the radio signals are generated at a central station and distributed to and from the radio base-stations as millimeter-
wave mo dulated optical signals (Fig.1a). Due to the small coverage of millimeter-wave frequency radio signals a lot of
radio base-stations are required, therefore they must be simple, compact, and have a low-cost. Radio base-stations can be
simplified by putting all of the complicated functions such as radio frequency modulation, demodulation, channel con-
trol, and so on, into the central station. In this case the radio base-station carries out only optical-to-electrical and electri-
cal-to-optical conversion (Fig.1b).

a) b) fLO ±fIF
data
<200 m fIF
BS High-speed
fLO CS photoreceiver BS
picocell 1

BS
picocell 3
c) fLO ±fIF
CS
data λ1
CS – central fIF
λ2 optoelectronic
station
BS – base BS mixer
fLO CS BS
station
picocell 2
Figure 1: Radio-on-fiber communication system (a). Direct millimeter-wave signal distribution scheme (b). Millimeter-wave
signal distribution scheme with optoelectronic up-converter and separate transmission of data and carrier (c).

*
malyshev@ieee.org; phone 375 17 2812213; fax 375 17 2839151
†
chizh@ieee.org; phone 375 17 2839164; fax 375 17 2839151
Proceedings of the Symposium on Photonics Technologies for 7th Framework Program 287
Wroclaw 12-14 October 2006

Photonic antenna with integrated high-speed photodiode and antenna has attracted much attention due to its potential to
enhance the performance of radio base-stations in wireless communication systems [3,4]. The radio base-station can be
greatly simplified if the signal from the photodiode can be used to directly drive the antenna without amplification. Thus,
the first goal of this paper is to provide p-i-n photodiode design optimization from maximal output microwave power
point of view.
It is worth noting that the chromatic dispersion of optical fiber severely limits the transmission distance in direct millime -
ter-wave signal distribution scheme (Fig.1b). This problem can be solved by using p-i-n photodiode as optoelectronic up-
converter in the radio base-station (Fig.1c) [5-8]. The conversion efficiency of the commonly used p-i-n photodiode is
relatively low compared to conventional methods based on electrical mixing using varactors or field-effect transistors.
So, further investigation on the mechanisms of the frequency conversion process in the p-i-n photodiode is necessary and
could lead to improvement of conversion efficiency. Thus, the second goal of this paper is to study p-i-n photodiode as
an optoelectronic mixer and provide its design optimizations from conversion efficiency point of view.

2. P-I-N PHOTODIODE FOR MICROWAVE GENERATION

The p-i-n photodiode output microwave power is limited by photocurrent saturation under high optical power due to
screening of an internal electric field by photogenerated charge carriers (space-charge effect) and by thermal failure
[9,10]. Thermal limits are determined by the power dissipation characteristics of p-i-n photodiode and begin to play re-
markable role under high reverse bias voltages. So the key point in the design of high saturation current surface-
illuminated p-i-n photodiodes is creation of strong internal electric field at the bias voltages near zero. It is known that
high saturation current of the p-i-n photodiodes is associated with uniform and p-side illumination of photosensitive area,
as well as low doping densities of absorption i-layer [9]. Fig.2 demonstrates the space-charge effect for 20 µm-diameter
p +-InP/i-InGaAs/n+-InP photodiode suitable for operating in 40 Gb/s microwave photonic systems. The photodiode struc-
ture consists of 0.3 µm-thick, 5·1018 cm-3 doped p+-InP top layer, 0.5 µm-thick, 1·1015 cm-3 n 0 -In 0.53Ga 0.47 As absorption
layer, and 0.3 µm-thick, 5⋅1018 cm-3 doped n+-InP contact layer. Simulation has been carried out by means of mixed de-
vice/circuit physical model of high-speed p-i-n photodiode, which takes into account self-heating effects and is based on
drift-diffusion scheme of charge carrier transport in semiconductor heterostructures and piecewise harmonic balance
method [11,12]. From Fig.2 it is seen that under illuminated power more than 500 mW the electrical field in the absorp-
tion n0 -InGaAs layer is almost screened by excess charge accumulated by photocarriers [13]. The decrease of electrical
filed causes decrease of photocarriers velocity and hence transit time, which leads to reduction of the photodiode output
microwave power (Fig.3, curve Rth = 0 K/W).
6
10 p+-InP n0-InGaAs n+-InP 19
Microwave power at 40 GHz, dBm

5
10 15
Electrical filed, V/cm

4
10 11

3
10 0 mW 7
150 mW Rt h = 0 K/W
2 250 mW Rt h = 100 K/W
10 400 mW 3 Rt h = 200 K/W
1000 mW Rt h = 300 K/W
1
10 -1
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 1.1 12 15 18 21 24 27 30
Distance,µ m Optical power, dBm
Figure 2: Simulated electric field into the InGaAs/InP p-i-n Figure 3: Output microwave power of the InGaAs/InP p -i-n
photodiode structure for different illuminated power photodiode versus incident optical power under reverse bias
at the wavelength 1.55µm and bias voltage -5 V voltage -5V and various thermal resistances Rth

To reduce influence of thermal factors on p-i-n photodiode operation under high modulated optical power the contact
layer has to be as thin as possible [9]. In this case, since thermal conductivity of InGaAs is much less than thermal con-
ductivity of InP, the thermal resistance of the studied p-i-n photodiode is mainly determined by InGaAs absorption i-
layer. Fig. 3 shows influence of space-charge and self-heating effects on InGaAs/InP p-i-n photodiode output microwave
power. Curves with thermal resistance Rth = 0 K/W describe theoretical maximum of microwave power from the p-i-n
Proceedings of the Symposium on Photonics Technologies for 7th Framework Program 288
Wroclaw 12-14 October 2006

photodiode which could be obtained. These curves are entirely determined by space-charge effect. However situation
changes greatly taking into account self-heating. Increase of temperature causes to reduction of carrier lifetime, satura-
tion velocity, and mobility. This results in decrease of output photocurrent. Thereby the maximal microwave power can
be achieved only when applied voltage is sufficient to overcome space-charge effect for given optical power and negligi-
ble to create self-heating. In other words there is always an optimal bias voltage which insures the maximal output power
for given p-i-n photodiode structure and incident optical power.
One can see fro m Fig. 4 that output microwave power can be improved by increasing of p-i-n photodiode diameter due to
decrease of thermal resistance. However in this case it is required significant increase of incident optical power. Depend-
ence of the photodiode output microwave power on thickness of absorption layer under optimal bias conditions is shown
in Fig. 5. It is seen that p-i-n photodiode with 0.3 µm InGaAs absorption layer has maximal output microwave power of
19 dBm, although in this case photodiode responsivity significantly reduces due to increase of RC-time and decrease of
optical radiation absorption. Increase of output microwave power under reduction of absorption layer thickness is ex-
plained by two factors. On the one hand thermal resistance of the p-i-n photodiode reduces significantly. On the other
hand the space-charge effect is weakened by increase of electrical field of p-n junction and decrease of photocarriers
transit time.
19 19
Microwave power at 40 GHz, dBm

Microwave power at 40 GHz, dBm

15 15

11 11

7 7

D = 20 µ m, Rth = 200 K/W d = 0.3 µ m, Bias = -6 V, R th = 140 K/W

3 D = 30 µ m, Rth = 89 K/W 3 d = 0.5 µ m, Bias = -5 V, R th = 200 K/W
D = 40 µ m, Rth = 50 K/W d = 0.7 µ m, Bias = -4 V, R th = 260 K/W
D = 50 µ m, Rth = 32 K/W
-1 -1
12 15 18 21 24 27 30 12 15 18 21 24 27 30
Optical power, dBm Optical power, dBm
Figure 4: Output microwave power of the InGaAs/InP p -i-n Figure 5: Output microwave power of the InGaAs/InP p -i-n
photodiode with different diameters under optimal bias photodiode with different absorption layer thickness under
voltage -5 V versus incident optical power optimal bias voltage versus incident optical power

To enhance output power of the photonic antenna it is necessary to match photodiode with antenna. It is necessary to
note that impedance of the p-i-n photodiode depends on incident optical power. At low optical powers the p-i-n photodi-
ode impedance is like pure capacitance and is usually much more than 50 Ω, and under high optical power it is like resis-
tance and is usually below 50 Ω [13].

3. P-I-N PHOTODIODE FOR FREQUENCY UP-CONVERSION

The most important parameter of the p-i-n photodiode as optoelectronic mixer is the conversion efficiency, which is de-
termined as the ratio of the microwave power measured at the converted frequency and the microwave power measured
at the frequency related to the smallest optical signal in the linear mode of the same p-i-n photodiode. It is worth men-
tioning that the operating regimes of the photodiode used for detection and for mixing are quite different. To achieve
high efficiency detection, the photodiode is used in the linear regime where the applied reverse bias is usually several
volts. However, for high efficiency mixing the bias has to be close to zero voltage, where the current-voltage and capaci-
tance-voltage characteristics exhibit the maximum nonlinearity.
Optoelectronic mixing of two amplitude-modulated optical signals has been studied using three p-side illuminated In-
GaAs/InP p-i-n photodiodes placed in the pigtailed fiber optical module [14-15](Fig. 6). Photodiodes have the same epi-
taxial structure, which consisted of 2µm-thick, 1.2·1015 cm-3 undoped n-In 0.9 Ga 0.1 As 0.23P0.77 top layer, 3 µm-thick,
1.2⋅1015 cm-3 undoped n0 -In 0.53Ga 0.47 As absorption layer, 0.5 µm-thick undoped n-InP buffer layer, and 400 µm-thick
3⋅1018 cm-3 doped n +-InP substrate. The p+-region was formed by local diffusion of Zn into the wide bandgap n-InGaAsP
top layer [16]. The first p-i-n photodiode (PD1) has diameter 40 µm and p-n junction depth 2.2 µm, the second (PD2)
and the third photodiode (PD3) have diameter 30 µm and p-n junction depth 1.9 µm and 1.8 µm, respectively.
Proceedings of the Symposium on Photonics Technologies for 7th Framework Program 289
Wroclaw 12-14 October 2006

f1 Spectrum
analyzer
optical
f2 coupler

Figure 6: Experimental setup for optoelectronic mixing investigation

Fig. 7 shows measured microwave power of detected and up-converted signals versus bias voltage for the different In-
GaAs/InP p-i-n photodiodes. The mixed optical signals have optical power of 0.35 mW, the wavelength 1.3 and 1.51 µm,
and modulation frequency 2.0 and 0.2 GHz, respectively. It is seen that the photodiode response exhibits the highest
nonlinearity near zero bias voltage. A decrease in the reverse bias voltage results in the decreasing of depletion region
electric field, and part of the generated photocarriers recombine in the neutral region and do not contribute to the photo-
current. This results in the lowering of the photodiode response at the small bias voltages. At the bias voltages close to
zero (-0.5÷0.5 V) the highest up-converted signal power corresponds to the p-i-n photodiode with the most abrupt re-
sponsivity-voltage characteristic (p-i-n PD1). In the other hand at the region of high reverse bias voltages (-5÷-2 V) the
highest output power of up-converted signal corresponds to the p-i-n photodiode with the highest nonlinearity of the ca-
pacitance-voltage characteristics (p-i-n PD3).

0 -30
Power of up-converted signal, dBm

-40
-10 p-i-n PD1 f 1 = 0.2 GHz
-50
Microwave power, dB

p-i-n PD2
-20 p-i-n PD3 -60
-70
-30
-80
-40 f 1 + f 2 = 2.2 GHz -90 Z = 50 Ω
Z = 250 Ω
-100 Z = 1250 Ω
-50
-110
-60 -120
-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 -20 -18 -16 -14 -12 -10 -8 -6 -4 -2 0
Bias voltage, V Power of input optical signals, dBm
Figure 7: Measured microwave power of detected and Figure 8: Power of the up -converted microwave signal
up-converted signals versus bias voltage for surface-illuminated at the frequency 40.5 GHz versus input optical signals power
InGaAs/InP p -i-n photodiodes with bandwidth of 3 GHz for the InGaAs/InP p -i-n photodiode under zero bias voltage
and various load resistances (fLO = 40 GHz, fIF = 0.5 GHz)

The voltage dependence of the photodiode response is the dominant mechanism of the optoelectronic mixing in the p-i-n
photodiode, which proceeds in the following way. The photodiode detects optical signal and generates a photocurrent.
Due to the nonzero load resistance the detected signal produces oscillations of the voltage at the photodiode which result
in oscillations of the photodiode responsivity. So the second optical signal is detected by the p-i-n photodiode with
modulated responsivity, and, therefore, mixing products with sum and difference frequencies are generated. It is neces-
sary to note that optimal absorption i-layer thickness of the p-i-n photodiode for optoelectronic up-conversion is larger
comparing with the p-i-n photodiode for optical detection, which operates at the same frequencies. So bandwidth of the
p-i-n photodiode for frequency conversion has to be limited by transit time since increasing RC-time leads to decreasing
of both photodiode responsivity and output current of converted signal [8]. For receiving maximal output power of the
up-converted signal it is very important to match photodiode with external microwave circuit. However in the case of
optoelectronic mixing matching does not mean that impedance of the p-i-n photodiode have to be equaled to load resis-
tance. Fig. 8 shows calculated power of the up-converted signal at the frequency 40.5 GHz versus input optical power for
the 10 µm-diameter p+-InP/i-InGaAs/n +-InP photodiode with absorption layer thickness of 1.1 µm under zero bias volt-
age and various load resistances. It is seen that at low optical powers the output power of the up-converted signal is pro-
portional to input optical power in fourth order. At certain input optical power level the power of up-converted signals
shows saturation connecting with lowering of the nonlinearity of the photodiode responsivity-voltage characteristic.
Proceedings of the Symposium on Photonics Technologies for 7th Framework Program 290
Wroclaw 12-14 October 2006

4. CONCLUSIONS

In this paper the design peculiarities of high-speed InGaAs/InP p-i-n photodiodes for microwave generation and fre-
quency conversion in radio-on fiber communication systems have been considered.
For photonic microwave generation application the main requirement to p-i-n photodiodes is the high saturation photo-
current. It is shown that with proper InGaAs/InP p-i-n photodiode design and bias voltage it is possible to obtain output
microwave power in the range of 15÷20 dBm at the frequency 40 GHz and input optical signal powers below 500 mW.
The output microwave power can be improved by increasing of p-i-n photodiode diameter. However in this case it is
required significant increase of incident optical power. The most effective method of output microwave power increasing
is reduction of InGaAs absorption i-layer thickness, because in this case both self-heating effect and space-charge effect
are significantly relaxed.
For frequency conversion mixing application the most important parameter of the p-i-n photodiode is the conversion
efficiency. It is shown that with proper optoelectronic mixer design, it is possible to obtain output microwave power of
the up-converted signal in the range of -60÷-35 dBm at the frequency 40.5 GHz and input optical signal powers from 0.1
to 1 mW. Thus optoelectronic mixer based on p-i-n photodiode can be successfully utilized in millimeter-wave-band
radio-on-fiber systems.

5. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This work was supported by Belarusian Republican Fund of Fundamental Researches (Project F05MC-011 and Project
F06? ? -039).

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