High-bandwidth uni-traveling carrier waveguide photodetector on an InP-membrane-on-silicon platform.

Area of Science:

• Photonics
• Materials Science
• Electrical Engineering

Background:

• Silicon photonics offers a scalable platform for integrated optical circuits.
• High-speed photodetectors are crucial components for optical communication systems.
• Integrating III-V materials like InP with silicon enables advanced photonic functionalities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate a uni-traveling carrier photodetector (UTC-PD) heterogeneously integrated on silicon.
• To achieve ultra-high bandwidth and high responsivity in the integrated photodetector.
• To validate the performance for high-speed data transmission applications.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of an InP-based photonic membrane on a silicon wafer.
• Utilizing a novel double-sided processing technique for integration.
• Characterization of the photodetector's 3 dB bandwidth, responsivity, and eye diagrams.

Main Results:

• Achieved a 3 dB bandwidth exceeding 67 GHz.
• Obtained a responsivity of 0.7 A/W at 1.55 μm wavelength.
• Demonstrated open eye diagrams at a data rate of 54 Gb/s.

Conclusions:

• The demonstrated UTC-PD showcases excellent high-speed performance.
• Heterogeneous integration on silicon provides a promising pathway for advanced photonic platforms.
• This technology holds potential for future high-speed optical communication and data processing applications.