High-sensitivity Ga0.47In0.53As photoconductive detectors prepared by vapor phase epitaxy

We report a Ga0.47In0.53As photoconductive detector with a receiver sensitivity better than that of a Ga0.47In0.53As pin photodiode. This is the first time that a 1.3-μm, 1-Gbit/s receiver sensitivity for a photoconductive detector as high as −34.4 dBm was achieved at a bit error rate of 10−9. This result represents a 2.9-dB improvement over the Ga0.47In0.53As pin photodiode used in our measurements. Furthermore, this detector can operate with bias voltage less than 2 V, representing a circuit simplicity over certain detectors. Our study concludes that photoconductive detectors are attractive devices for high data-rate lightwave communication applications.