Citation
Abstract
The avalanche photo diode (APD) was used as the front-end light collector on the receiving telescope in a series of optical communications experiments. These experiments were conducted between October 1995 and May 1996 in two phases at Table Mountain, California, and utilized the Japanese Engineering Test Satellite (ETS-VI). Following the Phase 1 experiments, extensive laboratory testing of the APD module was carried out and the results documented here. Essentially, it is found that the APD provides a linear response profile between input light power and output voltage level over the expected operational range of from 2 to 20 nW. In addition, it was found that the APD used in the Phase 1 experiments yields a 1.75-MHz, 3-dB bandwidth. It was also found that a better gain distribution could be obtained by cascading the APD with a linear power amplifier. This extended the APD bandwidth to 3.75 MHz for the Phase 2 experiments. This improved gain distribution also results in improved optical receiver performance as characterized by the bit-error rate.
Details
- Volume
- 42-128
- Published
- February 15, 1997
- Pages
- 1–8
- File Size
- 231.3 KB