Abstract

A fast, accurate and economical method for fully characterizing MMiCs from on -wafer to system measurements is presented as well as the corresponding set-ups. The method is applied to the evaluation of a GaAs monolithic transimpedance amplifier for the receiver of a high speed optical communication system. The device was firstly DC and RF measured on-wafer and on-chip in order to test the dispersion as well as for an initial selection of the chips. Using a test-fixture designed for fast on-carrier measurements the selected chips were tested on-carrier. Finally, employing the same carrier but a different test-fixture, optical/electrical measurements were done to evaluate the subsystem behavior. The efficiency of the measurement method is demonstrated in one hand and in the other the test results show that a transimpedance amplifier of excellent performances for high speed rate optical communication systems has been obtained.