Contents 1. Introduction
High-power, high-power-conversion-efficiency and high-frequency photodiodes are key components for microwave photonic distribution antenna systems [1] and the photonic generation of low-noise microwave signals [2]. However, the power conversion efficiency of high-power electronic amplifiers drops with frequency and typically ranges from 10–30% [3]. Recently several high-performance photodiodes delivering >20 dBm RF output power with> 20% PCE have been reported [4] [12]. In this work CC-MUTC photodiodes have been flip-chip bonded to a chemical-vapor-deposition (CVD) diamond submount, which has resulted in a record-high RF output power of 1.8 W at 10 GHz. Compared with an identical device on an aluminum nitride submount [5], [7] [9], the device on diamond achieves 80% greater maximum RF output power. We also report a record 60% PCE with 27.8 dBm RF output power in the X band.
