Wide-band high-efficiency optical-to-electrical conversion stimulus probe heads for testing large-signal responses of high-speed electronic devices

Wide-band high-efficiency optical-to-electrical conversion stimulus probe heads have been developed for testing large-signal responses of high-speed electronic devices. Two types of such probes were demonstrated using a 1.55-μm 85-GHz-bandwidth waveguide p-i-n photodiode. The type-I probe employs a simple semirigid coaxial cable with a bias network for the electrical-signal transmission, resulting in a very low modal dispersion of < 1.0 ps. The highest -3-dB bandwidth of 60 GHz was obtained for an output voltage of 250 mV_p-p, and was maintained beyond 50 GHz for output voltages of up to 400 mV_p-p. The type-II probe employs a broad-band InP high electron-mobility transistor distributed amplifier that boosts the electrical output signal amplitude over 1 V_p-p. The -3-dB bandwidth is 40 (35) GHz for output voltages up to 500 (1000) mV_p-p.