180 Gbit/s Si<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub>-waveguide coupled germanium photodetector with improved quantum efficiency
Xiao Hu, Dingyi Wu, Daigao Chen, Lei Wang, Xi Xiao, Shaohua Yu
Abstract
A high quantum efficiency (QE) and high-speed silicon nitride ( <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">S</mml:mi> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">i</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mn>3</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> </mml:mrow> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">N</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mn>4</mml:mn> </mml:msub> </mml:math> ) waveguide coupled germanium-on-silicon photodetector (Ge-on-Si PD) is presented. The proposed device is fabricated in a commercial 90 nm silicon photonics process platform. By decreasing the spacing between the tapered <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">S</mml:mi> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">i</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mn>3</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> </mml:mrow> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">N</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mn>4</mml:mn> </mml:msub> </mml:math> waveguide and the bottom Si to 200 nm and the <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">S</mml:mi> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">i</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mn>3</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> </mml:mrow> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">N</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mn>4</mml:mn> </mml:msub> </mml:math> thickness to 300 nm, the QE is significantly improved. Although the theoretical responsivity can reach up to 0.92 A/W at 1550 nm, the measured value is calculated to be approximately 0.61 A/W. The maximum experimental responsivity is about 0.9 A/W at 1485 nm. The 3 dB optoelectrical bandwidth of up to 54 GHz is demonstrated at a <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <mml:mo>−</mml:mo> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mn>3.3</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mspace width="thickmathspace"/> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">V</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> bias. Additionally, the 80, 90, 100, and 105 Gbit/s non-return-to-zero on-off-keying and the 150, 160, 170, and 180 Gbit/s four-level pulse amplitude modulation clear openings of the electrical eye diagrams are attained. Overall, the <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">S</mml:mi> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">i</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mn>3</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> </mml:mrow> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">N</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mn>4</mml:mn> </mml:msub> </mml:math> -waveguide coupled Ge-on-Si PD in this work possesses higher QE and operates at the highest data rates reported so far.