Radio over fiber telecommunication systems: The key optoelectronic devices for the receiver.

Recent developments in radio over fiber telecommunication systems such as micro- or pico- cellular mobile communications would require specific performance from either optical emitters or receivers. In this paper, we will describe this receiver part, i.e. the optical to micro- or millimeter- wave conversion. Waveguide type photoreceivers such PIN photodiodes and HPT's (Hetetojunction bipolar PhotoTransistors) appear to be suitable devices for such;applications. These devices disjoin photon and electron transport and permit separate optimization of Light absorption and electrical properties. Owing to its intrinsic gain, the HPT can act as an amplified detector or can be used in more complex optoelectronic functions such as optically driven oscillators. The talk will describe the design of these specific components, their technology and give the main aspects of their performance.