Design of a Hybrid Electroabsorptive Modulator/Photovoltaic Device for Free Space Optical Communication at 1.55 µm

The current standard for communications system on satellites are high size, weight, and power (SWaP) RF transceivers, which is contrasted with the low SWaP solar arrays that implement III-V semiconductors for optimal solar collection. An alternative, low SWaP solution is to implement a hybrid photovoltaic (PV)/electroabsorptive modulator (EAM) coupled with a retroreflector and use free space optical communication over 1.55 μm rather than RF communication. A design which minimizes parasitic losses and optimizes contrast ratio and cutoff frequency in a 1 cm2 device is discussed.