Germanium photodetector with distributed absorption regions

The bandwidth and saturation power of germanium photodetectors are two crucial parameters for implementing analog and microwave photonics circuits. In conventional schemes, it is hard to optimize these two parameters simultaneously, due to different requirements for the size of absorption region. We report the design and demonstration of a high-power and high-speed germanium photodetector with distributed absorption regions. In this distributed-absorption photodetector (DAPD), the junction is formed by a multiple absorption region (n-cell) on a mutual substrate, and the input light is split and fed into the n cells. A comprehensive theoretical model is developed, and the device bandwidth and power loss in aspect of the number of cells is discussed. Experimentally, 2-, 4- and 8-cell DAPDs are investigated, and the 2-cell scheme shows the superior performance with the radio-frequency saturation photocurrent as high as 16.1 mA and the 3 dB bandwidth as high as 50 GHz. Without changing the standard process in the silicon photonic foundry, the DAPD can be seamlessly integrated with other photonics devices, and it is very attractive to applications such as integrated microwave photonics systems.