Abstract: Modular apparatus for packaging and interfacing a planar photodiode with an optical fiber terminated in a ferrule. An elongated terminal pin protrudes from a header of a generally-cylindrical housing. The ferrule end of the fiber is received at the opposed end of the housing and aligned with a disk-shaped photodetector fixed to the end of the pin interior to the housing. A wire is bonded to a surface of the photodetector and, via the conductive casing of the header, to the housing to provide a miniaturized single-pin pigtailed modular arrangement that is readily adaptable for automated manufacturing process.

Abstract: The specification discloses a process for growing crystals of a Group III-V material having controlled and high purity. The crystal is grown in the presence of hydrogen containing a predetermined amount of water vapor and the water vapor suppresses the concentration of silicon impurities from the reaction chamber, the associated tubing, and/or the starting materials, which are incorporated in the grown crystal. The crystal growth process may be either an epitaxial process or a bulk process. In one embodiment of the invention, the material grown is indium phosphide. In another embodiment of the invention, the process described above is used to grow a series of epitaxial layers of a Group III-V material with each layer having different predetermined impurity concentrations, to form a Gunn diode device.