High-Performance Waveguide-Integrated Ge/Si Avalanche Photodetector with Lateral Multiplication Region

High-performance waveguide-integrated Ge/Si APDs in separate absorption, charge, and multiplication (SACM) schemes have been exploited to facilitate energy-efficient optical communication and interconnects. However, the charge layer design is complex and time-consuming. A waveguide-integrated Ge/Si avalanche photodetector (APD) is proposed in a separate absorption and multiplication (SAM) configuration. The device can work at low voltage and high speed with a lateral multiplication region without complexity of the charge layer. The proposed device is implemented by the complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) process in the 8-inch Si photonics platform. The device has a low breakdown voltage of 12 V and shows high responsivity of 15.1 A/W at 1550 nm wavelength under optical power of -22.49 dBm, corresponding to a multiplication gain of 18.1. Moreover, an opto-electrical bandwidth of 20.7 GHz is measured at 10.6 V. The high-speed performance at low voltage shows a great potential to implement high-energy-efficient Si optical communications and interconnections.