Ultra-low noise large-area InGaAs quad photoreceiver with low crosstalk for laser interferometry space antenna

Abhay Joshi; Shubhashish Datta; Jim Rue; Jeffrey Livas; Robert Silverberg; Felipe Guzman Cervantes

doi:10.1117/12.918285

25 September 2012 Ultra-low noise large-area InGaAs quad photoreceiver with low crosstalk for laser interferometry space antenna

Abhay Joshi, Shubhashish Datta, Jim Rue, Jeffrey Livas, Robert Silverberg, Felipe Guzman Cervantes

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 8453, High Energy, Optical, and Infrared Detectors for Astronomy V; 84532G (2012) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.918285
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2012, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Abstract

Quad photoreceivers, namely a 2 x 2 array of p-i-n photodiodes followed by a transimpedance amplifier (TIA) per diode, are required as the front-end photonic sensors in several applications relying on free-space propagation with position and direction sensing capability, such as long baseline interferometry, free-space optical communication, and biomedical imaging. It is desirable to increase the active area of quad photoreceivers (and photodiodes) to enhance the link gain, and therefore sensitivity, of the system. However, the resulting increase in the photodiode capacitance reduces the photoreceiver's bandwidth and adds to the excess system noise. As a result, the noise performance of the front-end quad photoreceiver has a direct impact on the sensitivity of the overall system. One such particularly challenging application is the space-based detection of gravitational waves by measuring distance at 1064 nm wavelength with ~ 10 pm/√Hz accuracy over a baseline of millions of kilometers. We present a 1 mm diameter quad photoreceiver having an equivalent input current noise density of < 1.7 pA/√Hz per quadrant in 2 MHz to 20 MHz frequency range. This performance is primarily enabled by a rad-hard-by-design dualdepletion region InGaAs quad photodiode having 2.5 pF capacitance per quadrant. Moreover, the quad photoreceiver demonstrates a crosstalk of < -45 dB between the neighboring quadrants, which ensures an uncorrected direction sensing resolution of < 50 nrad. The sources of this primarily capacitive crosstalk are presented.

Citation Download Citation

Abhay Joshi, Shubhashish Datta, Jim Rue, Jeffrey Livas, Robert Silverberg, and Felipe Guzman Cervantes "Ultra-low noise large-area InGaAs quad photoreceiver with low crosstalk for laser interferometry space antenna", Proc. SPIE 8453, High Energy, Optical, and Infrared Detectors for Astronomy V, 84532G (25 September 2012); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.918285

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available