Advances in Performance of Ultra Wideband Photodiodes and Photoreceivers


-- 1000 V/W Gain Shown Over 10 GHz

Ewing, NJ -- Feb 22, 1999 - For Immediate Release -- Discovery Semiconductors, Inc. announced new and enhanced performance detector products at the Optical Fiber Conference in San Diego. New photoreceivers were shown, one with super high gain from 2 MHz to 10 GHz and a second with a single supply, 350 V/W design over the same frequency response. Expanded bandwidth was also demonstrated for previously announced PIN photodiodes and 10 GHz photoreceivers.

The DSC-R403 photoreceiver leads the OC-192 market with its super high gain of 1000V/W over its 10 GHz bandwidth at 1550 nm! This unit has equivalent transimpedance gain of over 1600 ohms, yet its pigtailed, sealed microwave package only has a footprint of 13 by 18 mm. A variety of optical input connectors and fiber types are available within a 4 week delivery period at an affordable price.

The DSC-R402 photoreceiver was reintroduced with its upper -3 dB bandwidth point moved out to 9.5 GHz and the lower point reduced to 30 KHz. With high gain of 350 V/W, the unit is ideal for OC-192 applications that need 20 dB of gain to drive limiting amps or CDR circuits. The part is convenient to work with due to its small size, a single supply voltage of +8 V, and options for AC or DC coupling. Normally configured to bias both the photodiode and amplifier with one supply pin, users who want to monitor the photodiode current as a carrier detect may specify separate bias pins. 

Discovery also announced that the bandwidth of the original DSC-R401 photoreceiver now goes to 14 GHz with 80 V/W output at 1550 nm. This wide bandwidth permits its use in multi-stage amplifier designs by preventing premature roll-off of the system bandwidth (due to compounding effect of the roll-offs of the each stages). 

The PIN InGaAs photodiode products shown by Discovery also offer increased bandwidth, with the DSC20S-3 delivering over 41 GHz bandwidth at a responsivity of over 0.75 A/W and optical back reflection of -40 dB. These results are achieved with a 20 micron diameter active area device, permitting users with 10 mA photo current (14 mW light input) to skip a stage of amplification. Circuit design is simple as no external bias tee is needed and full frequency response is obtained with only +3 volts bias. 

Similarly, the larger 50 micron diode (DSC50-3) now has an option that extends its bandwidth to beyond 10 GHz (effectively reducing customer cost/GHz bandwidth). Driven with 30 mW, the RF output exceeds 1/2 V! This is sufficient to drive many decision circuits directly, eliminating the noise of a gain stage.

At the high end of the range, Discovery is also delivering its DSC10S-3 photodiodes. These have -3 dB bandwidth greater than 50 GHz and responsivity of 0.5 A/W. All of these devices are packaged in sealed, low-noise microwave modules with the users choice of connectorized fiber pigtail, and type K or V RF output connectors.

Discovery presented these new devices in their booth #2107 at the OFC99 conference in San Diego, CA, February 23rd to 25th. For more information or quotes, please call 609-434-1311 or fax 609-434-1317.


For additional information, including complete specifications, operational capabilities and pricing or to discuss your application in detail, please call us at 609-434-1311 or fax 609-434-1317.

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