Modeling of germanium photodiodes

Modeling of germanium photodiodes with bandwidths greater than 40 GHz

The Institute for Semiconductor Engineering (IHT) at the University of Stuttgart has developed a process for depositing high-quality layers of pure germanium on silicon wafers. Unlike silicon, germanium still absorbs light at the typical telecom wavelengths of 1.3 µm and 1.55 µm due to its low band gap. This makes it a suitable material for photodiodes in monolithically integrated optical receivers.

In a joint DFG project with the IHT, very broadband photodetectors based on the SiGe material system were developed and measured. At INT, the focus was on modeling and setting up the electro-optical RF measurement technology and parameter extraction. Based on this data, the diode layout and individual process steps were iteratively optimized, ultimately demonstrating a photodiode with a bandwidth of more than 40 GHz.

Publications

  1. 2010

    1. E. Kasper, M. Oehme, J. Schulze, S. Klinger, and M. Berroth, “High frequency behaviour of Ge pin junctions,” in International Workshop on New Group IV Semiconductor Nanoelectronics, Digest of papers, Sendai, Japan, 2010, pp. 1–3.

  2. 2009

    1. S. Klinger, M. Grözing, W. Sfar Zaoui, M. Berroth, M. Kaschel, M. Oehme, E. Kasper, and J. Schulze, “Ge on Si p-i-n photodiodes for a bit rate of up to 25 Gbit/s,” in European Conference on Optical Communication (ECOC), 2009, pp. 1–2.

  3. 2007

    1. M. Oehme, J. Werner, E. Kasper, S. Klinger, and M. Berroth, “Photocurrent analysis of a fast Ge p-i-n detector on Si,” Applied Physics Letters, vol. 91, p. 51108, 2007.

  4. 2006

    1. E. Kasper, M. Oehme, J. Werner, M. Jutzi, and M. Berroth, “Fast Ge p-i-n Photodetectors on Si,” in International SiGe Technology and Device Meeting, Princeton, NJ, USA, 2006, pp. 1–2.

  5. 2005

    1. M. Jutzi, M. Berroth, G. Wöhl, M. Oehme, and E. Kasper, “Ge-on-Si vertical incidence photodiodes with 39-GHz bandwidth,” IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, vol. 17, pp. 1510–1512, 2005.
    2. M. Jutzi, M. Berroth, G. Wöhl, M. Oehme, and E. Kasper, “40-Gbit/s Ge-Si photodiodes,” in Topical Meeting on Silicon Monolithic Integrated Circuits in RF Systems (SIRF). Digest of Papers, San Diego, CA, USA, 2005, pp. 303–307.
    3. M. Jutzi, M. Berroth, G. Wöhl, M. Oehme, and E. Kasper, “Zero biased Ge-on-Si photodetector on a thin buffer with a bandwidth of 3.2GHz at 1300nm,” Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing, vol. 8, pp. 423–427, 2005.

  6. 2004

    1. M. Jutzi, M. Berroth, G. Wöhl, M. Oehme, V. Stefani, and E. Kasper, “Ge-on-Si pin-photodiodes for vertical and in-plane detection of 1300 to 1580 nm light,” in European Solid-State Device Research Conference (ESSDERC), Leuven, Belgium, 2004, pp. 345–348.
    2. M. Jutzi, M. Berroth, G. Wöhl, C. Parry, M. Oehme, M. Bauer, C. Schöllhorn, and E. Kasper, “SiGe PIN photodetector for infrared optical fiber links operating at 1.25 Gbit/s,” Applied Surface Science, vol. 224, pp. 170–174, 2004.

  7. 2003

    1. G. Wöhl, C. Parry, E. Kasper, M. Jutzi, and M. Berroth, “SiGe pin-photodetectors integrated on silicon substrates for optical fiber links,” in IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC), San Francisco, CA, USA, 2003, pp. 374–375.

  8. 2001

    1. M. Jutzi, M. Berroth, M. Bauer, C. Schöllhorn, W. Zhao, and E. Kasper, “SiGe-pin-Photodioden auf dünnen Pufferschichten für λ =1,3 µm,” presented at ITG-Tagung Messung und Modellierung in der Optischen Nachrichtentechnik (MMONT), Schloss Reisensburg, Günzburg, Germany, 2001.
Additional information
  • DFG Project
    Breitbandiger, hocheffizienter Photodetektor basierend auf dem SiGe-Materialsystem [german]

Contact

This image shows Wolfgang Vogel

Wolfgang Vogel

Dr.-Ing.

Senior Lecturer / Vice Director

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