High-performance Ge photoreceivers operating in the wavelength range of 850 nm∼1550 nm

We present high-performance photoreceivers based on vertical-illumination-type 100% Ge-on-Si p-i-n photo-detectors (PDs) operating at λ ~1550 nm and at λ ~850 nm. The TO-can packaged photoreceivers with Ge PDs optimized for λ ~1550 nm and data rates of 2.5 Gbps and 10 Gbps exhibit the sensitivities of -25.5 dBm and -9.5 dBm (bit error rate of 10^-12), respectively. Also, the 10 Gbps photoreceiver with a Ge PD optimized for λ ~850 nm shows the sensitivity of -15.64 dBm. This experimental result indicates that the Ge photoreceiver based on silicon photonics technology can readily provide cost-effective solutions for optical network applications.