Frequency spurious aversion by minimal reverse bias selection of a high-speed optically triggered sampling circuit based on a positive-intrinsic-negative photodiode

Carlos Villa; Iván Olaf Hernandez; Rafael Villa; Eric Donkor

doi:10.1364/AO.51.005412

Frequency spurious aversion by minimal reverse bias selection of a high-speed optically triggered sampling circuit based on a positive-intrinsic-negative photodiode

Appl Opt. 2012 Aug 1;51(22):5412-8. doi: 10.1364/AO.51.005412.

Authors

Carlos Villa¹, Iván Olaf Hernandez, Rafael Villa, Eric Donkor

Affiliation

¹ Institute of Engineering, Autonomous University of Baja California, s/n De la Normal Avenue, Insurgentes, Mexicali, B.C. 21280, Mexico. villac@uabc.edu.mx

PMID: 22859029
DOI: 10.1364/AO.51.005412

Abstract

In this paper we present a procedure for the selection of the minimal dc reverse bias voltage of a high-speed optically triggered sampling circuit. The optically triggered sampling circuit is based on a PIN photodiode. A set of expressions that includes the optical power dependence of the current passing through the PIN photodiode is derived. Theoretical results of the procedure are experimentally verified with practical measurements obtained from a 3 giga samples per second (GS/s) and a 20 GS/s sampling circuit implemented with commercial PIN photodiodes. Reductions in the signal-to-noise and distortion ratio of 37.28 and 6.9 dBs, as well as increments in the spurious free dynamic range of 31 and 19 dBs in the sampled signals, are respectively averted by the selection of the minimal reverse bias.