High Speed InGaAs PIN Photodiode Grown on Semi-Insulating InP Substrate Suitable for Monolithic Integration

Abstract

The integration of a PIN photodiode with an FET is attractive to obtain low noise, high speed photoreceivers for optical communication systems. Most of the high speed photodiode work to date has been done on conductive substrates which are not suitable for monolithic integration1-4. In this paper, we report a low operating voltage InGaAs PIN photodiode suitable for optoelectronic monolithic integration, fabricated on a semi-insulating InP substrate with the lowest reported dark current density of 2.5 x 10-6 A/cm2 at -10V bias (0.2nA for a 100μm diameter diode). At the operating voltage of -5V, an external quantum efficiency of >90% at 1.3μm and >83% at 1.55μm, a rise time of <35 ps and a FWHM of <45 ps have been measured.