Study of dynamic behavior of /spl delta/-doped HMSM photodetector

Abstract

We have previously reported the time response of a /spl delta/-doped heterostructure metal-semiconductor-metal photodetector (HMSM-PD) with FWHM of 11 ps for a 4 /spl mu/m finger gap device. Comparison of the /spl delta/-doped and undoped devices shows improved performance due to the /spl delta/-doping. In this paper, we simulate the device dynamics behavior using Ramo's theorem. Results show that the introduction of a /spl delta/-doping layer significantly changes the 2D potential and field profiles from horizontally oriented to vertically oriented ones due to the screening effect of the highly crowded two dimensional electron gas (2DEG) formed along the interface of the heterojunction, which reduces the carrier travel distance, hence the transit time of carriers in the device. With this knowledge, we expect to achieve high speed performance without further scaling down of the device.