Wideband optical amplifier-receiver utilizing two electrode optical amplifier.

摘要

A semiconductor optical amplifier (10) is utilized for optical amplification and for detection of an optical signal (12) at the current injection electrode (14) of the optical amplifier (10). A wide detection bandwidth is provided by utilizing an impedance transformer (26) between the current injection terminal (22) and the detection circuit (28). The impedance transformer (26) typically has an input impedance of about 1 to 15 ohms. The impedance transformer (26) can be a bipolar junction transistor circuit, a microstrip transmission line impedance transformer or a hybrid impedance transformer. A wide detection bandwidth is also obtained by providing a semiconductor optical amplifier (10) having two current injection electrodes. A bias current (20) is supplied through both current injection electrodes, and both electrodes produce optical gain. However, only one of the electrodes is used for optical signal detection. The detection electrode has a relatively high junction resistance and a relatively high series resistance. <IMAGE>