Waveguide-integrated near-infrared detector with self-assembled metal silicide nanoparticles embedded in a silicon p-n junction

• Published in: Applied physics letters Vol. 100; no. 6; pp. 061109 - 061109-3
• Main Authors: Zhu, Shiyang, Chu, H. S., Lo, G. Q., Bai, P., Kwong, D. L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Institute of Physics 06.02.2012
• Subjects: Detectors; Devices; Mathematical models; Metal silicides; Nanoparticles; P-n junctions; Silicon; Telecommunications
• ISSN: 0003-6951; 1077-3118
• DOI: 10.1063/1.3683546

An all-silicon photodetector integrated in a silicon-on-insulator waveguide for the telecom regime is proposed. The device is based on internal photoemission from electrically floating metal silicide nanoparticles (NPs) embedded in the space charge region of a Si p-n junction. Numerical simulation indicates that the light absorption could be enhanced if localized surface plasmon resonances are excited on the metal silicide nanoparticles, thus enabling to shrink the detector's footprint to a submicron scale. A proof-of-concept detector fabricated using standard silicon complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor technology exhibits a peak responsivity of ∼30 mA/W at 5-V reverse bias and a 3-dB bandwidth of ∼6 GHz. It is expected that the overall performance would be significantly improved by optimization of both the detector's configuration and the fabrication parameters.