Resonant tunnelling diode-photodetectors and DFB lasers for optical communications

Zhang, Weikang (2020) Resonant tunnelling diode-photodetectors and DFB lasers for optical communications. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

The requirement for bandwidth in short-range wireless communications is rapidly increasing. It is predicted that current wireless technologies, which are utilising the microwave band in the low-frequency region of the spectrum, cannot completely support the growing demand for future high-bandwidth applications. It is essential to exploit and develop new technology platforms which rely on higher frequency regions, i.e. millimetre (mm) and Terahertz (THz) bands, to alleviate the spectrum scarcity and the bandwidth limitation of current wireless communication systems. Therefore, the development and implementation of low-cost, high-efficiency transceivers have become one of the key challenges to realise economically viable high-speed communication networks which can be integrated into and make the most use of the existing fibre-optic networks and wireless interfaces.

Resonant tunnelling diode (RTD)-based technique has been investigated for a few years, and RTD-based devices have been proven as one of the most promising solid-state mm-wave/THz sources which can operate at room temperature. RTDs have the advantages of ultra-high operating frequencies, the nonlinearity of the I-V characteristic, low power consumption and high integration capability. These features make RTD-based devices feasible to be utilised as transmitters and detectors for high-speed wireless communications, as well as the interfaces in the existing high-speed optical networks. With the advancement of fabrication processes, a variety of RTD-based devices have been developed, and their performances, such as the oscillation frequency and output power, have been continuously improving. For communication purposes, a number of demonstrations on RTD-based transceivers have been illustrated with transmission data rates from hundreds of Mbit/s to tens of Gbit/s, depending on the application scenarios. However, most studies are based on the all-electrical RTD devices, with an effort to improve the carrier frequencies and transmission data rates. Although the optical characteristics of RTDs have been widely investigated, research of the directly optical modulation of RTDs is still at an early stage. In this work, innovative research on RTD devices which employ semiconductor photoabsorption layer(s) is illustrated, with a series of measurements of RTD-photodetector (RTD-PD) devices being conducted. Specifically, the optical and electrical intensity modulations, as well as the short-range wireless transmission, are demonstrated. These experimental results highlight the potential of RTD devices for future high-speed optical/wireless communications.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Additional Information: Due to copyright issues the electronic version of this thesis is not available for viewing.
• Keywords: Resonant tunnelling diode (RTD), distributed feedback (DFB) lasers, high-speed optical/wireless communications.
• Subjects: T Technology > T Technology (General)
• Colleges/Schools: College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering
• Funder's Name: the European Commission
• Supervisor's Name: Kelly, Prof. Anthony
• Date of Award: 2020
• Depositing User: Mr Weikang Zhang
• Unique ID: glathesis:2020-81462
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 18 Jun 2020 06:32
• Last Modified: 05 Dec 2025 11:30
• Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.81462
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/81462

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