RECEIVER WITH OPTICAL THYRISTORS OPERATING AT 155 MBIT S WITH 3 FEMTO-JOULE OPTICAL INPUTS/

A receiver for digital optical inputs is presented which is based on a differential pair of optical thyristors, Modification of the conventi onal differential pair allows the electrical readout of its ON and OFF states. Optical input pulses with an energy of about 3 femto-Joule (a t a wavelength of 830 nm) are sufficiently large for detection. In its present size, the receiver works up to 155 Mbit/s. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.