Monolithically integrated multichannel SiGe/Si p-i-n-HBT photoreceiver arrays

A low-power, short-wavelength eight-channel monolithically integrated photoreceiver array, based on SiGe/Si heterojunction bipolar transistors, is demonstrated. The photoreceiver consists of a photodiode, three-stage transimpedance amplifier, and passive elements for feedback, biasing and impedance matching. The photodiode and transistors are grown by molecular beam epitaxy in a single step. The p-i-n photodiode exhibits a responsivity of 0.3A/W and a bandwidth of 0.8 GHz at /spl lambda/=0.88 /spl mu/m. The three-stage transimpedance amplifier demonstrates a transimpedance gain of 43 dB/spl Omega/ and a -3 dB bandwidth of 5.5 GHz. A single channel monolithically integrated photoreceiver consumes a power of 6 mW and demonstrates an optical bandwidth of 0.8 GHz. Eight-channel photoreceiver arrays are designed for massively parallel applications where low power dissipation and low crosstalk are required. The array is on a 250-/spl mu/m pitch and can be easily scaled to much higher density. Large signal operation up to 1 Gb/s is achieved with crosstalk less than -26 dB. A scheme for time-to-space division multiplexing is proposed and demonstrated with the photoreceiver array.