InGaAs PIN photodetectors integrated on silicon-on-insulator waveguides

Abstract

InGaAs PIN photodetectors heterogeneously integrated on silicon-on-insulator waveguides are fabricated and characterized. Efficient evanescent coupling between silicon-on-insulator waveguides and InGaAs photodetectors is achieved. The fabricated photodetectors can work well without external bias and have a very low dark current of 10pA. The measured responsivity of a 40microm-long photodetector is 1.1A/W (excluding the coupling loss between the fiber and the SOI waveguide) at a wavelength of 1550nm and shows good linearity for an input power range of 40dB. Due to the large absorption coefficient of InGaAs and the efficient evanescent coupling, the fabricated photodetectors can cover the whole S, C and L communication bands.