Ewing, NJ - January 23, 2007

Discovery Semiconductors, Inc., has provided high optical power handling, 12 GHz InGaAs photodiodes to the optoelectronic group of the Institut d’Electronique, de Microelectronique et de Nanotechnologie (IEMN) in France, led by Prof. Didier Decoster for their research in opto-electronic oscillators.

The opto-electronic oscillator is a special class of oscillator that is based on converting continuous light energy from a pump laser into RF signals ^[1]. Prof. Decoster said, “The opto-electronic oscillator design we implemented at IEMN, called for a highly linear photodiode at 10 GHz that could handle optical powers up to 40 mW without going into saturation. The low harmonic distortion and nearly constant group delay of the photodiode were necessary factors in realizing a low-phase noise oscillator. Discovery’s photodiode met all our requirements.” This work was partially funded by the European Space Agency.

“The use of opto-electronic oscillators in microwave systems is an exciting new field. Opto-electronic oscillators are attractive because they produce highly stable, low phase noise signals. Furthermore, they are lightweight and small in size which is of special interest for space projects.” said Mr. Jay Magbitang, Sales Engineer at Discovery Semiconductors. “We are pleased that our high current handling photodiodes are an enabling technology for opto-electronic oscillators.” Mr. Magbitang continued, “We are constantly striving to improve current handling. Our future plans are to increase the current handling from the present 40 mA to over 100 mA at 10 GHz. This improvement will further enhance the performance of opto-electronic oscillators.”

[1] IEEE Microwave Magazine, Vol. 7, No. 4, pp. 38-47, August 2006.

Discovery Semiconductors is an industry leader in manufacturing ultrafast, high optical power handling InGaAs photodetectors, radio frequency over fiber optical receivers, balanced optical receivers and several other custom products for applications ranging from analog RF links to ultrafast digital communications. They have experience with Space and High Reliability Military Projects, and their customers include Fortune 500 telecom and aerospace companies, defense organizations, universities and emerging communication companies.

For additional information, including complete product specifications, operational capabilities and pricing, or to discuss your application in detail, please call Discovery at: (609) 434-1311 or fax: (609) 434-1317.