Abstract
A new method of simulating photodiode nonlinearities is proposed. This model includes the effects of non-uniform absorption in three dimensions, self-heating, and is compatible with circuit components defined in the frequency domain, such as transmission lines. The saturated output power and third order output intercept points of two different waveguide photodiodes are simulated, with excellent agreement between measurement and theory. The technique is then used to provide guidance for the future design of linear waveguide-based photodetectors.
Highlights
Microwave nonlinearities, distortion and output power, have been modeled extensively in the time domain in the past
A new method of simulating photodiode nonlinearities is proposed. This model includes the effects of non-uniform absorption in three dimensions, self-heating, and is compatible with circuit components defined in the frequency domain, such as transmission lines
Because HBM is compatible with transmission lines, matching networks for load impedance optimization can be designed and realistic interconnects between multiple devices can be simulated
Summary
Distortion and output power, have been modeled extensively in the time domain in the past. The photodetector output is calculated for an appropriate number of cycles, a Discrete Fourier Transform is applied, and the output power and output intercept point are calculated These models have proven successful in identifying the primary causes of nonlinearity in high-power detectors, which vary by cross-section and with operation frequency. The primary advantage of the HBM is its ability to quickly expand a well-understood cross-section to an additional spatial dimension This is especially useful in modeling waveguide photodiodes. HBM is compatible with circuit components that are best described in the frequency domain, such as transmission lines, whereas time-domain solutions are not This enables the designer to predict the behavior of one or many high-power photodiodes in a realistic microwave circuit. Good agreement between simulation and experiment is again obtained, and it is shown that waveguide device performance can theoretically approach uniformly illuminated device performance, it may require careful optical designs to do this while maintaining good bandwidth and efficiency
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