Introduction of InP high speed electronics into optical fiber transmission systems and current technological limits

InP microelectronics is emerging as a technology well-suited for the optoelectronic transmitters and receivers to be used in optical transmission systems operating at 40 Gbit/s per channel and above. In such applications very high-speed transistors are required for the digital parts, while output voltages of a few Volts are needed to drive electrooptic modulators. InP is bringing performances in cut-off frequencies and output voltage which SiGe and GaAs cannot offer. Record cut-off frequencies ( > 300 GHz) have been reported for both High Electron Mobility Transistors (HEMTs) and Heterojunction Bipolar Transistors (HBTs), and ICs operating well over 40 Gbit/s have been demonstrated. Still material and processing issues have to be solved to fully exploit the potential of InP and related compounds. copyright 2001 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.