Investigation of responsivity decreasing with rising bias voltage in a GaN Schottky barrier photodetector

The unexpected decrease in measured responsivity observed in a specific GaN Schottky barrier photodetector (PD) at high reverse bias voltage was investigated and explained. Device equivalent transforms and small signal analysis were performed to analyse the test circuit. On this basis, a model was built which explained the responsivity decrease quantitatively. After being revised by this model, responsivity curves varying with bias voltage turned out to be reasonable. It is proved that the decrease is related to the dynamic parallel resistance of the photodiode. The results indicate that with a GaN Schottky PD, the choice of load resistance is restricted according to the dynamic parallel resistance of the device to avoid responsivity decay at high bias voltage.

High-performance 1.55 mu m low-temperature-grown GaAs resonant-cavity-enhanced photodetector

A 1.55 mu m low-temperature-grown GaAs (LT-GaAs) photodetector with a resonant-cavityenhanced structure was designed and fabricated. A LT-GaAs layer grown at 200 degrees C was used as the absorption layer. Twenty- and fifteen-pair GaAs/AlAs-distributed Bragg reflectors were grown as the bottom and top mirrors. A responsivity of 7.1 mA/W with a full width at half maximum of 4 nm was obtained at 1.61 mu m. The dark current densities are 1.28x10(-7) A/cm(2) at the bias of 0 V and 3.5x10(-5) A/cm(2) at the reverse bias of 4.0 V. The transient response measurement showed that the photocarrier lifetime in LT-GaAs is 220 fs. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.

Tailoring the band gap and transport properties of Cu3BiS3 nanopowders for photodetector applications

We report a facile route to synthesize high quality earth abundant absorber Cu3BiS3, tailoring the band gap with the morphology manipulation and thereby analyzed the secondary phases and their role in the transport property. The sample at 48 hours reaction profile showed good semiconducting behavior, whereas other samples showed mostly a metallic behavior. Band gap was varied from 1.86 eV to 1.42 eV upon controling the reaction profile from 8 hours to 48 hours. The activation energy was calculated to be 0.102 eV. The temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) was found to be 0.03432 K-1 at 185 K. The IR photodectection properties in terms of photoresponse have been demonstrated. The high internal gain (G = 3.7 x 10(4)), responsivity (R = 3.2 x 10(4) A W-1) for 50 mW cm(-2) at 5 V make Cu3BiS3, an alternative potential absorber in meliorating the technological applications as near IR photodetectors.

Solution processed Cu2SnS3 thin films for visible and infrared photodetector applications

The Cu2SnS3 thin films were deposited using an economic, solution processible, spin coating technique. The films were found to possess a tetragonal crystal structure using X-ray diffraction. The film morphology and the particle size were determined using scanning electron microscopy. The various planes in the crystal were observed using transmission electron microscopy. The optimum band gap of 1.23 eV and a high absorption coefficient of 104 cm-1 corroborate its application as a photoactive material. The visible and infrared (IR) photo response was studied for various illumination intensities. The current increased by one order from a dark current of 0.31 mu A to a current of 1.78 mu A at 1.05 suns and 8.7 mu A under 477.7 mW/cm(2) IR illumination intensity, at 3 V applied bias. The responsivity, sensitivity, external quantum efficiency and specific detectivity were found to be 10.93 mA/W, 5.74, 2.47% and 3.47 x 10(10) Jones respectively at 1.05 suns and 16.32 mA/W, 27.16, 2.53% and 5.10 x 10(10) Jones respectively at 477.7 mW/cm(2) IR illumination. The transient photoresponse was measured both for visible and IR illuminations. (C) 2016 Author(s).

Waveguide based compact silicon Schottky photodetector with enhanced responsivity in the telecom spectral band.

We experimentally demonstrate an on-chip compact and simple to fabricate silicon Schottky photodetector for telecom wavelengths operating on the basis of internal photoemission process. The device is realized using CMOS compatible approach of local-oxidation of silicon, which enables the realization of the photodetector and low-loss bus photonic waveguide at the same fabrication step. The photodetector demonstrates enhanced internal responsivity of 12.5mA/W for operation wavelength of 1.55µm corresponding to an internal quantum efficiency of 1%, about two orders of magnitude higher than our previously demonstrated results [22]. We attribute this improved detection efficiency to the presence of surface roughness at the boundary between the materials forming the Schottky contact. The combination of enhanced quantum efficiency together with a simple fabrication process provides a promising platform for the realization of all silicon photodetectors and their integration with other nanophotonic and nanoplasmonic structures towards the construction of monolithic silicon opto-electronic circuitry on-chip.

1 x 4 Ge-on-SOI PIN Photodetector Array for Parallel Optical Interconnects

High-quality Ge film was epitaxially grown on silicon on insulator using the ultrahigh vacuum chemical vapor deposition. In this paper, we demonstrated that the efficient 1 4 germanium-on-silicon p-i-n photodetector arrays with 1.0 mu m Ge film had a responsivity as high as 0.65 A/W at 1.31 mu m and 0.32 A/W at 1.55 mu m, respectively. The dark current density was about 0.75 mA/cm(2) at 0 V and 13.9 mA/cm(2) at 1.0 V reverse bias. The detectors with a diameter of 25 mu m were measured at 1550 nm incident light under 0 V bias, and the result showed that the 3-dB bandwidth is 2.48 GHz. At a reverse bias of 3 V, the bandwidth is about 13.3 GHz. The four devices showed a good consistency.

1.55 mu m Ge islands resonant-cavity-enhanced detector with high-reflectivity bottom mirror

A 1.55 mum Ge islands resonant-cavity-enhanced (RCE) detector with high-reflectivity bottom mirror was fabricated by a simple method. The bottom mirror was deposited in the hole formed by anisotropically etching in a basic solution from the back side of the sample with the buried SiO2 layer in silicon-on-insulator substrate as the etch-stop layer. Reflectivity spectrum indicates that the mirror deposited in the hole has a reflectivity as high as 99% in the range of 1.2-1.65 mum. The peak responsivity of the RCE detector at 1543.8 nm is 0.028 mA/W and a full width at half maximum of 5 nm is obtained. Compared with the conventional p-i-n photodetector, the responsivity of RCE detector has a nearly threefold enhancement. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.

Silicon membrane resonant-cavity-enhanced photodetector

A Si resonant-cavity-enhanced (RCE) photodiode was fabricated on a silicon membrane. The Si membrane was formed by etching from the back side of the silicon-on-insulator substrate with the buried SiO2 layer as etch-stop layer. A gold layer was deposited serving as an electrode layer and bottom mirror of the RCE photodiode. The photodiode had an external quantum efficiency of 33.8% at the resonant wavelength of 848 nm and a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 17 nm. The responsivity was 4.6 times that of a conventional Si p-i-n photodiode with the same absorption layer thickness. (c) 2005 American Institute of Physics.

Performance improvement of GaN based Schottky barrier ultraviolet photodetector by adding a thin AlGaN window layer

We propose a new structure of GaN based Schottky barrier ultraviolet photodetector, in which a thin n-type AlGaN window layer is added on the conventional n(-)-GaN/n(+)-GaN device structure. The performance of the Schottky barrier ultraviolet photodetector is found to be improved by the new structure. The simulation result shows that the new structure can reduce the negative effect of surface states on the performance of Schottky barrier GaN photodetectors, improving the quantum efficiency and decreasing the dark current. The investigations suggest that the new photodetector can exhibit a better responsivity by choosing a suitably high carrier concentration and thin thickness for the AlGaN window layer.

Abnormal photoabsorption in high resistance GaN epilayer

Unintentionally doped GaN epilayers are grown by the metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). Photovoltaic (PV) spectroscopy shows that there appears an abnormal photoabsorption in some undoped GaN films with high resistance. The peak energy of the absorption spectrum is smaller than the intrinsic energy band gap of GaN. This phenomenon may be related to exciton absorption. Then metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) Schottky photodetectors are fabricated on these high resistance epilayers. The photo spectrum responses are different when the light individually irradiates each of the two electrodes with the photodetector which are differently biased. When the excitation light irradiates around the reverse biased Schottky junction, the responsivity is almost one order of magnitude larger than that around the forward biased junction. Furthermore, when the excitation light irradiates the reverse biased Schottky junction, the peak energy of the spectrum has a prominent red-shift compared with the peak energy of the spectrum measured with the excitation light irradiating the forward biased Schottky junction. The shift value is about 28 meV, and it is found to be insensitive to temperature. According to the analyses of the distribution of the electric field within the MSM device and the different dependences of the response on the electric field intensity between the free carriers and excitons, a reliable explanation for the different response among various areas is proposed.

A High Speed, 12-Channel Parallel, Monolithic Integrated CMOS OEIC Receiver

The design and fabrication of a high speed, 12-channel monolithic integrated CMOS optoelectronic integrated circuit(OEIC) receiver are reported.Each channel of the receiver consists of a photodetector,a transimpedance amplifier,and a post-amplifier.The double photodiode structure speeds up the receiver but hinders responsivity.The adoption of active inductors in the TIA circuit extends the-3dB bandwidth to a higher level.The receiver has been realized in a CSMC 0.6μm standard CMOS process.The measured results show that a single channel of the receiver is able to work at bit rates of 0.8～1.4Gb/s. Altogether, the 12-channel OEIC receiver chip can be operated at 15Gb/s.

Investigation on integrated high speed DFB light source and narrow bandwidth RCE photodetector for WDM fiber communication network application

Electroabsorption (EA) modulator integrated with partially gain coupling distributed feedback (DFB) lasers have been fabricated and shown high single mode yield and wavelength stability. The small signal bandwidth is about 7.5 GHz. Strained Si1-chiGechi/Si multiple quantum well (MQW) resonant-cavity enhanced (RCE) photodetectors with SiO2/Si distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) as the mirrors have been fabricated and shown a clear narrow bandwidth response. The external quantum efficiency at 1.3 mum is measured to be about 3.5% under reverse bias of 16 V. A novel GaInNAs/GaAs MQW RCE p-i-n photodetector with high reflectance GaAs/ALAs DBR mirrors has also been demonstrated and shown the selectively detecting function with the FWHM of peak response of 12 nm.

Optic sensors of high refractive-index responsivity and low thermal cross sensitivity that use fiber Bragg gratings of >80° tilted structures

For the first time to the authors' knowledge, fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) with >80° tilted structures have been fabricated and characterized. Their performance in sensing temperature, strain, and the surrounding medium's refractive index was investigated. In comparison with normal FBGs and long-period gratings (LPGs), >80° tilted FBGs exhibit significantly higher refractive-index responsivity and lower thermal cross sensitivity. When the grating sensor was used to detect changes in refractive index, a responsivity as high as 340nm/refractive-index unit near an index of 1.33 was demonstrated, which is three times higher than that of conventional LPGs.

Optic sensors of high refractive-index responsivity and low thermal cross sensitivity that use fiber Bragg gratings of >80° tilted structures

For the first time to the authors' knowledge, fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) with >80° tilted structures nave been fabricated and characterized. Their performance in sensing temperature, strain, and the surrounding medium's refractive index was investigated. In comparison with normal FBGs and long-period gratings (LPGs), >80° tilted FBGs exhibit significantly higher refractive-index responsivity and lower thermal cross sensitivity. When the grating sensor was used to detect changes in refractive index, a responsivity as high as 340 nm/refractive-index unit near an index of 1.33 was demonstrated, which is three times higher than that of conventional LPGs. © 2006 Optical Society of America.