Abstract

In recent years there have been a number of reports of the use of high-speed metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) photodetectors in optical receivers with MESFETs, HEMTs, and HBTs.^1–3 Although MSM photodetectors offer a number of advantages as front-end detectors, including high speed capability, fabrication simplicity, and ease of process integration with transistors, their design for integration in optical receivers involves a number of performance tradeoffs. This paper discusses these tradeoffs in MSM design from a systems point of view. The effects of finger width and spacing and detector area on bandwidth and signal-to-noise ratio are examined. Also discussed are ease of detector alignment with regards to the detector size and lithography considerations in selecting the finger width.

© 1995 Optical Society of America