Physical Principles of Photocurrent Generation in Multi-Barrier Punch-Through-Structures.

The sensitivity and the bandwidth of the photodetector is critical to the overall performance of the receiver. A higher sensitivity translates into a longer distance possible between the last repeater and the receiver, without loss of data. The bandwidth of the photodetector will define the overall upper bandwidth limit of the receiver. There are two major types of the photodetector used in the telecommunication systems today – a p-i-n photodiode and an avalanche photodiode. The sensitivity of the p-i-n photodiode by itself is often too low for long-haul applications, typically, as the bandwidth is increased, the sensitivity is decreased.

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