COMPARED MICROWAVE PERFORMANCES OF A HIGH-SPEED PIN PHOTODIODE AND A TRAVELING FRINGES PHOTODETECTOR

We discuss the comparative performances of the high-speed top-illumina ted photodiode geometry and of the traveling fringes photodetector geo metry. This last one relies on the synchronous drift in a semiconducto r of photogenerated carriers with a moving fringes pattern. Linearized rate equations are solved taking into account dielectric relaxation a nd space charge field effects in both geometries. Estimations of the m aximum available microwave power are presented for GaAs, Si, SiC, and GaN. This comparison is based on quite idealistic materials in order t o draw out inherent limitations of these two approaches.