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Waveguide-integrated black phosphorus photodetector with high responsivity and low dark current

Nature Photonics volume 9, pages 247–252 (2015)Cite this article

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Abstract

Layered two-dimensional materials have demonstrated novel optoelectronic properties and are well suited for integration in planar photonic circuits. Graphene, for example, has been utilized for wideband photodetection. However, because graphene lacks a bandgap, graphene photodetectors suffer from very high dark current. In contrast, layered black phosphorous, the latest addition to the family of two-dimensional materials, is ideal for photodetector applications due to its narrow but finite bandgap. Here, we demonstrate a gated multilayer black phosphorus photodetector integrated on a silicon photonic waveguide operating in the near-infrared telecom band. In a significant advantage over graphene devices, black phosphorus photodetectors can operate under bias with very low dark current and attain an intrinsic responsivity up to 135 mA W−1 and 657 mA W−1 in 11.5-nm- and 100-nm-thick devices, respectively, at room temperature. The photocurrent is dominated by the photovoltaic effect with a high response bandwidth exceeding 3 GHz.

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Figure 1: BP photodetector integrated in a silicon photonic circuit.
Figure 2: Field-effect characteristics of the BP photodetector.
Figure 3: Gate- and bias-tuned photoresponse of the BP photodetector.
Figure 4: Broadband frequency response of the BP photodetector.

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Acknowledgements

This work is supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (award no. FA9550-14-1-0277) and the National Science Foundation (NSF, award no. ECCS-1351002). M.L. thanks X.H. Chen and G.J. Ye of University of Science and Technology of China for providing some of the black phosphorus samples at the initial stage of the project. Parts of this work were carried out in the University of Minnesota Nanofabrication Center, which receives partial support from the NSF through the National Nanotechnolgy Infrastructure Network (NNIN) programme, and the Characterization Facility, which is a member of the NSF-funded Materials Research Facilities Network via the Material Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) programme.

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  1. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, 55455, Minnesota, USA

    Nathan Youngblood, Che Chen, Steven J. Koester & Mo Li

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  1. Nathan Youngblood
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  2. Che Chen
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Contributions

M.L. conceived and supervised the research. N.Y. fabricated the devices, performed the measurements and analysed the data. C.C. assisted the fabrication. N.Y., M.L. and S.J.K. analysed the data. M.L., N.Y. and S.J.K. co-wrote the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Mo Li.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Youngblood, N., Chen, C., Koester, S. et al. Waveguide-integrated black phosphorus photodetector with high responsivity and low dark current. Nature Photon 9, 247–252 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2015.23

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