We have proposed a tunable laser with silica-waveguide ring resonators. In this tunable laser, a semiconductor optical amplifier was passively aligned and mounted onto a silica-waveguide substrate. The ring resonators can be tuned by controlling their temperatures using the thermo optic heaters formed on them, and there are no mechanically moving parts. Thus, they are sufficiently stable and reliable for practical use. Our tunable laser exhibits a high fiber-output power of more than 15 dBm and a wide tunable range of 60 nm (L-band, 50 GHz spacing, 147 channels). Moreover, a tunable laser with a much wider tunable range of 96 nm using 100-GHz-FSR ring resonators is also reported.

Optical frontend and distributed amplifier IC modules, both containing GaAs heterojunction-bipolar-transistors (HBT), have been developed for 40 Gb/s optical receiver. To achieve high-speed operations, the elements in the modules including the IC and signal lines, were designed to achieve a wider bandwidth with lower electrical reflection. The influence of a bonding-wire inductance was taken into particular account in optimizing the parameters of the ICs. The optical frontend, consisting of a waveguide pin-photodiode and an HBT preamplifier IC, exhibits a transimpedance gain of 43 dBΩ and a bandwidth of 31 GHz. The distributed amplifier IC module achieves a gain of 9 dB and a bandwidth of 39 GHz. A 40-Gb/s optical receiver constructed with these modules exhibited a high receiver sensitivity of -28. 2 dBm for a 40-Gb/s optical return-to-zero signal.

For over 40-Gbps optical communication systems, phase coded modulation formats, like differential phase shift keying (DPSK) and quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), are very important for signal frequency efficiency and long-reach transmission. In such systems, differential receivers which regenerate phase signals are key components. Dual Photo Diodes (dual PDs) are key semiconductor devices which determine the receiver performance. Each PD of the dual PDs should realize high speed performance, high responsibility and high input power operation capability. Highly symmetrical characteristics between the two PDs should be also realized, thus the dual PDs are desired to be monolithically integrated to one chip. In this paper, we describe the design, fabrication, characteristics and reliability of monolithically integrated dual evanescently coupled waveguide photodiodes (EC-WG-PDs) for the purpose described above. The structure of the EC-WG-PDs offers the attractive advantages of high speed performance, high responsivity and high input power operation. Furthermore, their fabrication process is suitable for the integration of two PDs on one ship. First, the optimization was done for high products of 3-dB bandwidth and responsivity for 43-Gbps DPSK receivers. Excellent characteristics (50 GHz bandwidth with a responsivity of 0.95 A/W), and high reliability were demonstrated. The other type of optimization was done for ultra high speed operation up to 100-Gbps. The fabricated PDs exhibited the 3 dB-bandwidth of 80 GHz with a responsivity of 0.25 A/W. Furthermore, 43-Gbps RZ-DPSK receivers including the dual EC-WG-PDs based on the former optimization and differential transimpedance amplifiers (TIAs) newly developed for the purpose were also presented. Clear and symmetrical eye openings were observed for both ports. The OSNR characteristics exhibited 14.3 dB at a bit error rate of 10-3 that is able to be recovery with FEC. These performances are enough for practical use in 43-Gbps RZ-DPSK systems.

As a low-cost optical transceiver for access network systems, we propose a new monolithic transceiver photonic integrated circuit (PIC) fabricated by bandgap energy controlled selective metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE). In the PIC, all optical components are monolithically integrated. Thus, the number of optical alignment points is significantly reduced and the assembly costs of the module is decreased compared to those of hybrid modules, that use silica waveguides. Moreover, by using selective MOVPE, extremely low-loss buried heterostructure waveguides can be fabricated without any etching. In-plane bandgap energy control is also possible, allowing the formation of active and passive core layers simultaneously without complicated fabrication. The transceiver PIC showed fiber-coupled output power of more than 1 mW and receiver bandwidth of 7 GHz. Modulation and detection operations at 500 Mb/s were also demonstrated. As a cost effective fabrication technique for monolithic PICs, bandgap energy controlled selective MOVPE is a promising candidate.

Waveguide photodiodes (WGPDs) are key devices for high-speed optical receivers in trunk lines because of their potential ability to provide both high efficiency and a high-speed response. We have designed a waveguide photodiode for 40-Gb/s-range optical receivers. The optical coupling characteristics were simulated in detail to optimize the waveguide structure, and the electrodes of the photodiode were designed to form a coplanar transmission line to match the system impedance, which minimized frequency-response degradation. A highly beryllium-doped, low-temperature-grown InGaAs contact layer grown by gas source molecular beam epitaxy was used to reduce the series resistance, and approximately 40% reduction of series resistance was achieved. The fabricated device exhibited both a very high external quantum efficiency of 81% for 1.55-µm light and a sufficient bandwidth of more than 40 GHz. Though we used a simple conventional fabrication process, excellent characteristics were achieved due to the optimized optical design and well suppressed parasitic parameters.

Waveguide photodiodes (WGPDs) are key devices for high-speed optical receivers in trunk lines because of their potential ability to provide both high efficiency and a high-speed response. We have designed a waveguide photodiode for 40-Gb/s-range optical receivers. The optical coupling characteristics were simulated in detail to optimize the waveguide structure, and the electrodes of the photodiode were designed to form a coplanar transmission line to match the system impedance, which minimized frequency-response degradation. A highly beryllium-doped, low-temperature-grown InGaAs contact layer grown by gas source molecular beam epitaxy was used to reduce the series resistance, and approximately 40% reduction of series resistance was achieved. The fabricated device exhibited both a very high external quantum efficiency of 81% for 1.55-µm light and a sufficient bandwidth of more than 40 GHz. Though we used a simple conventional fabrication process, excellent characteristics were achieved due to the optimized optical design and well suppressed parasitic parameters.