Waveguide-coupled detector in zero-change complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor

Abstract

We report a waveguide-coupled photodetector realized in a standard CMOS foundry without requiring changes to the process flow (zero-change CMOS). The photodetector exploits carrier generation in the silicon-germanium normally utilized as stressor in pFETs. The measured responsivity and 3 dB bandwidth are of 0.023 A/W at a wavelength of 1180 nm and 32 GHz at −1 V bias (18 GHz at 0 V bias). The dark current is less than 10 pA and the dynamic range is larger than 60 dB.