Paper Review Tejas, Vardhan, Sasa

EE23BTECH11059, ES22BTECH11031, EE23BTECH11222

EE2104 — Prof. Naresh Kumar Emani Due Date: 30/11/2024

Ge Photodiode with -3 dB OE Bandwidth of 110 GHz for PIC

and ePIC Platforms
Link: [Link]

Abstract (same as the paper):

An SOI-waveguide coupled germanium photodiode with very high OE -3 dB bandwidth of
≥110 GHz at reverse bias of 2 V. This performance is achieved by a novel construction in that
the germanium is sandwiched in between two in-situ doped silicon regions. This fabrication
approach allows for avoiding ion-implantation into the germanium, which is certainly beneficial
for the bandwidth as minority carrier diffusion effects are strongly suppressed. A responsivity
of >0.6 A/W at 1550 nm (-2 V) is achieved, while the dark current of this device yields to
about 300 nA (-2 V). To our knowledge, this is the most advanced germanium photo detector
in terms of bandwidth combined with state-of-the-art responsivity as well as moderate dark
currents. We demonstrate that the novel photodiodes can be fabricated with high yield.

Research:
1.1 Diode Itself
• Structure:

– The photodiode has an intrinsic Ge layer sandwiched between two highly doped
p and n silicon regions.
– This design minimizes the number of minority carriers in the intrinsic region,
allowing for faster current flow and improved bandwidth.

• Waveguide Coupling:

– A silicon waveguide directs light into the Ge layer, ensuring efficient absorption.
– Using Fresnel’s refractive index equation, the waveguide minimizes the amount of
light lost due to reflection, improving absorption efficiency.

• Performance Improvements:

– Responsivity: Achieves a high responsivity of > 0.6 A/W at 1550 nm with -2 V

bias.
– Bandwidth: The photodiode achieves an outstanding -3 dB optoelectrical (OE)
bandwidth of ≥110 GHz, ideal for high-frequency optical communication systems.
– Dark Current: The dark current is extremely low (300 nA at -2 V), making the
diode energy efficient.

• Innovations in Design:

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 – No Ion Implantation: The Ge layer is sandwiched between in-situ doped sil-
icon regions, avoiding ion implantation into Ge. This reduces minority carrier
diffusion effects, which enhances the frequency response.
– Lateral p-i-n Diode Design: The p-i-n structure avoids generating photo-carriers
in the doped Ge regions. This significantly reduces carrier diffusion and improves
speed.
– Undoped Si Waveguide: The Si waveguide remains undoped, which benefits re-
sponsivity compared to doped waveguides.
– Homogeneous Electric Field: The alignment of Si offshoots along the Ge layer
ensures a uniform electric field distribution, improving performance.

• Significance of the Design:

– This photodiode is the most advanced germanium photodetector in its class,

with a unique combination of high bandwidth, responsivity, and low dark cur-
rent.
– It surpasses the previous benchmark of 67 GHz OE bandwidth, achieving an
OE bandwidth of 110 GHz.
– It’s compatible with high-speed communication systems, supporting symbol rates
of 140–200 Gbaud, making it suitable for future applications in data centers and
metro networks.

1.2 Fabrication

• Figure 3 (a):

1. Growth of crystalline germanium layer on a silicon on insulator waveguide. (Selective

germanium epitaxy)
2. A thin layer of Silicon is deposited on germanium, to prevent damage from chemicals.

• Figure 3 (b):

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 1. A trench is formed by dry etching (using reactive gases to remove material from
surface and to make fine geometries).
2. A hard mask of silicon dioxide is also used to prevent dry etching on other side.

• Figure 3 (c):

1. In-situ doped Silicon region (p/n) is deposited using epitaxy.

• Figure 3 (d):

1. Silicon dioxide is filled into the trench, and the surface is planarized using chemical
mechanical polishing (CMP).

• Figure 3 (e),(f):

1. The same process is repeated on the other side of the Germanium instrinsic layer,
but with inverse doping on the silicon, to form a PIN diode.
2. The relative position of the first and second hard-mask patterning and Ge dry etch-
ings define the actual width of the Ge region.
3. Extra Silicon on top is removed and CoSi2 is formed on top.

2 Measurement Results and Analysis:

2.1 Frequency Responses:

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 • Ge 300, 300/350 refers to the Ge width.

• We note that the diodes give us large bandwidth of 110 GHz

• A large difference is present between the zero bias response and -0.25, which indicates
that undepleted regions where minority carrier diffusion, dominates.(Since the holes move
from p side to n side, the minority carriers in p side should increase in number to maintain
np = n2i )

• At low reverse bias most of the region is depleted and when there are no charges in
depletion layer, which gives better responsivity.

• Ge-350 gives a lower Opto electronic bandwidth of 100 GHz compared to Ge-300 which
has a bandwidth of about 110GHz Fig(10) due to wider I region. (Delay ∝ Wintrinsic region )

2.2 Dark currents:

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 • We observe the dark currents to be higher for Ge-300 which shows that for smaller germa-
nium widths scattering effects take place and currents are improved. In general the electric
field is dependent on the width, smaller width gives higher field, gives higher current.

2.3 CV characterstics:

• A comparison of the capacitance vs. voltage characteristics to our prior PDs (Fig. 7)
points out, that the PD “Ge-300” seems to have a wider depletion region (C = Aϵ d ; d-
depletion width) although the prior PD features a wider i-region (∼600 nm) by means of
the drawn layout (length and height of the PDs are similar). This strengthens our as-
sumption, that there is significant dopant diffusion in the prior PDs which is now strongly
suppressed. (C ∝ W1dep )

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2.4 Photocurrent vs Bias applied:

• The Photocurrent vs Bias curves are as follows.

2.5 Responsivity:
• Internal responsivity at 1550 nm is estimated to about 0.64 A/W and 0.74 A/W for
“Ge-300” and “Ge-350”, respectively

• Higher responsivity for Ge-350 due to greater intrinsic region width.

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2.6 TEM of diode:

• As seen in Fig. 1(b), CoSi2 is partially formed at the vertically aligned Si-offshoots. The
impact of this nearby metal layer on the responsivity is still under investigation

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2.7 Optical Power handling capability:

• The optical power handling capability of the PD “Ge-300” is demonstrated in Fig. 11.
By varying the laser input power the frequency response is measured at increased photo
currents. Up to a photo current of about 1.2 mA, the PD achieves high bandwidth ≥100
GHz. Further increase of the optical power causes a degradation of the bandwidths such
that at 3 mA the OE bandwidth drops to about 60 GHz. Compared to our prior PD, this
is an improvement of a factor 1.5

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2.8 Chip-wise Normalized Frequency Responses

• 110 Ghz (the Keysight frequency) Lightwave component analyzer (LCA) chips were ex-
perimented on.
• The normalized responses were measured over a range of frequencies.
• Measurements were also made on a full wafer of 67 GHz LCA.
• Notice how, in Fig. 12, the 67 GHz measurement (blue line) gets cut off at a frequency
of 67 GHz. Hence, the -3 dB bandwidth could not be measured.
• Hence, the -1 dB bandwidth is reported.

2.9 Figures 14 and 15

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 • A wafer consisting of 62 wafer sites is shown.

• We know that, ideally, we want the dark current (current flowing when there is no supply
voltage) to be as low as possible.

• Most of the wafer sites (of ”Ge-300”) show an acceptable dark current of 200-300 nA.

• Some of the wafer sites show a higher dark current (and one has failed).

• Considering all these statistics, it can be concluded that this procedure does give a high
yield.

• In the case of ”Ge-350”, the dark currents are more widely distributed across the wafer
sites.

• The good yield suggests that the adaptation of this photodiode for various devices.

3 Conclusion
• An SOI-waveguide coupled Ge PD with very high OE -3 dB bandwidth of <110 GHz at
reverse bias of 2 V is presented.

• The structure of the construction gives the good performance gain.

• At -2 V, a responsivity of >0.6 A/W at 1550 nm, and a dark current of 300 nA is achieved.

• As of 2020, this is a state-of-the-art Ge photodiode.

• These PDs can be fabricated with high yield.

Contributions

Team Member Contributions

Tejas 1.2, 2.2 - 2.7
Sasa 1.1
Vardhan 2.8, 2.9, 3

Table 1: Team Member Contributions

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