Ultrabroadband optical receivers: a comparative study

This article compares the performance of several optical receiver configurations optimized for 10 GHz bandwidth: (1) PIN/lossy matched pre-amplifier; (2) feedback amplifier; and (3) distributed pre-amplifier. For this purpose a new technique was developed in order to perform circuit optimization taking into account all the important circuit characteristics such as gain, group delay, and noise spectral density. This technique can be implemented using a standard circuit simulator and is applicable both to direct detection (including sub-carrier multiplexing) and coherent receivers. Given the current trend toward the utilization of high capacity transmission systems, the results and the techniques presented can be of major utility for the design of ultra wide bandwidth optical receivers, a key element in such systems.© (1992) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.