100 GHz low-noise MESFET, HFET, and MSM technology for 10 Gb/s OEIC applications

Optical interconnects possess great potential in applications for short-distance, multiple channel parallel connections at the chip-to-chip, board-to-board, back plane, and local area network levels of high performance computing environments. Low-loss and high-bandwidth advantages of optical fiber over those for coaxial cables become sizable when the transmission speed exceeds multiple Gb/s. OEIC (Opto-Electronic Integrated Circuits) receivers and transmitters are suitable for both free-space and fiber-optic short-wavelength optical links. Such chip sets will be able to support link distances from less than 1 mm for chip-to-chip optical interconnects to over 1 km for local area network (LAN) systems. As a high-speed optical receiver for these systems, monolithic OEICs are very attractive because of their potential for high-speed operation, compactness, and cost reduction. In this paper, we will review the theoretical speed limit of MSM (Metal-Semiconductor-Metal) photodetector. 3-dB bandwidth of 50×50 μm² MSM detector will be studied. The recent progress on the 100 GHz MESFET (Metal Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor, InP HFET (Heterojunction Field Effect Transistor) and their OEIC receivers are also presented.