An Affordable Laboratory Photodiode up to 11.5 GHz for Microwave Photonics Experiments

Low-cost optoelectronic devices are the main limiting factor when it comes to scaling the current access networks based on microwave photonics to the capabilities of smart cities. The use of affordable photodiodes could decrease the use of microwave photonics, since it is part of each system. In this paper we evaluate the frequency response of a coaxial packaged photodiode. The design of an electric circuit is presented. The results from the vector network analyzer show that the coaxial packaged photodiode makes photodetectors applicable up to 11.5 GHz. In addition, an experimental verification of the photodiode in an optoelectronic oscillator is performed.