Shi Jin-Wei. Photodiodes - Communications, Bio-Sensings, Measurements and High-Energy Physics

InTech, 2011. — 290 p. — ISBN: 978-953-307-277-7.The photodiode device structure, which has developed almost simultaneously with Si based p-n junctions, has had a dramatic impact on everyday life, especially in the field of communication and sensing. The last few decades have seen optical techniques come to dominate long-haul communication and photodiode technologies, serving as an energy transducer in the receiver end, which can convert optical data into electrical signals for further processing. In addition to communication, photodiodes have also found some killer applications in advanced high-speed image systems and will eventually replace traditional slow charge-coupled devices (CCD).
This book describes different kinds of photodiodes and several interesting applications, such as for high-speed data communication, biomedical sensing, high-speed measurement, UV-light detection, and high energy physics. The discussed photodiodes cover an extremely wide optical wavelength regime, ranging from infrared light to X-ray, making the suitable for these different applications. Compared with most other published studies about photodiodes, the topics discussed in this book are more diversified and very special. Take the category of high-speed data communication for example; which covers the applications of photodiodes under very-low temperature operations such as for the optical interconnects used in ultra-high speed superconducting electronic circuits. This topic has rarely been discussed in relation to the use of photodiodes for fiber communication. Furthermore, in this category, we also discuss a unique high-speed single photon detection technique based on the use of the low-noise Si-based APD and the photon up-conversion technique, which could be important for the development of the next-generation of quantum communication.
Overall, the aim of such book is to provide the reader with information about novel, unique, and practical examples of different photodiodes for several diversified applications without going into detail on complex device physics and math. This should be a very useful “tool-book” for engineers, students, and researchers in different academic fields who want to understand the most advanced photodiode applications.