Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

High-speed detection at two micrometres with monolithic silicon photodiodes

Nature Photonics volume 9, pages 393–396 (2015)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

With continued steep growth in the volume of data transmitted over optical networks there is a widely recognized need for more sophisticated photonics technologies to forestall a ‘capacity crunch’1. A promising solution is to open new spectral regions at wavelengths near 2 μm and to exploit the long-wavelength transmission and amplification capabilities of hollow-core photonic-bandgap fibres2,3 and the recently available thulium-doped fibre amplifiers4. To date, photodetector devices for this window have largely relied on III–V materials5 or, where the benefits of integration with silicon photonics are sought, GeSn alloys, which have been demonstrated thus far with only limited utility6,7,8,9. Here, we describe a silicon photodiode operating at 20 Gbit s–1 in this wavelength region. The detector is compatible with standard silicon processing and is integrated directly with silicon-on-insulator waveguides, which suggests future utility in silicon-based mid-infrared integrated optics for applications in communications.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: SEM images of the photodetector.
Figure 2: Steady-state photodiode current measurements.
Figure 3: Eye diagrams for a 1-mm-long detector operating at a wavelength of 1.96 μm.
Figure 4: The small signal frequency response at a wavelength of 1,550 nm.

References

  1. Richardson, D. J. Filling the light pipe. Science 330, 327–328 (2010).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  2. Mode-Gap research project. http://modegap.eu (2014).

  3. The Photonics Hyperhighway research programme. http://www.orc.soton.ac.uk/PHH (2014).

  4. Li, Z. et al. Diode-pumped wideband thulium-doped fiber amplifiers for optical communications in the 1800–2050 nm window. Opt. Express 21, 26450–26455 (2013).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  5. Ye, N. et al. InP based active and passive components for communication systems at 2 μm. J. Lightw. Technol. 3, 971–975 (2015).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  6. Roelkens, G. et al. Silicon-based photonic integration beyond the telecommunication wavelength range. IEEE J. Sel. Top. Quantum Electron. 20, 394–404 (2014).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. Soref, R. A. Silicon-based silicon–germanium–tin heterostructure photonics. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 372, 20130113 (2014).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  8. Reed, G. T., Mashanovich, G., Gardes, F. Y. & Thomson, D. J. Silicon optical modulators. Nature Photon. 4, 518–526 (2010).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  9. Ashgari, M. & Krishnamoorthy, A. V. Silicon photonics: energy-efficient communication. Nature Photon. 5, 268–270 (2011).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  10. Soref, R. A. Mid-infrared photonics in silicon and germanium. Nature Photon. 4, 495–497 (2010).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  11. Nedeljkovic, M. et al. Silicon photonic devices and platforms for the mid-infrared. Opt. Mater. Express 3, 1205–1214 (2013).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  12. Roelkens, G. et al. Silicon-based heterogeneous photonic integrated circuits for the mid-infrared. Opt. Mater. Express 3, 1523–1536 (2013).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  13. Conley, B. et al. Temperature dependent spectral response and detectivity of GeSn photoconductors on silicon for short wave infrared detection. Opt. Express 22, 15639–15652 (2014).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  14. Gan, X. et al. Chip-integrated ultrafast graphene photodetector with high responsivity. Nature Photon. 7, 883–887 (2013).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  15. Grote, R. R. et al. 10 Gb/s error-free operation of all-silicon ion-implanted-waveguide photodiodes at 1.55 µm. IEEE. Photon. Technol. Lett. 25, 67–70 (2013).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  16. Ackert, J. J. et al. 10 Gbps silicon waveguide-integrated infrared avalanche photodiode. Opt. Express 21, 19530–19537 (2013).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  17. Mailoa, J. P. et al. Room-temperature sub-band gap optoelectronic response of hyperdoped silicon. Nature Commun. 5, 1–8 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Souhan, B. et al. Error-free operation of an all-silicon waveguide photodiode at 1.9 μm. IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett. 25, 2031–2034 (2013).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  19. Souhan, B. et al. Si+-implanted Si-wire waveguide photodetectors for the mid-infrared. Opt. Express 22, 27415–27424 (2014).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  20. Logan, D. F., Jessop, P. E. & Knights, A. P. Modeling defect enhanced detection at 1550 nm in integrated silicon waveguide photodetectors. J. Lightw. Technol. 27, 930–937 (2009).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  21. Almeida, V., Panepucci, R. & Lipson, M. Nanotaper for compact mode conversion. Opt. Lett. 28, 1302–1304 (2003).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  22. Fan, H. Y. & Ramdas, A. K. Infrared absorption and photoconductivity in irradiated silicon. J. Appl. Phys. 30, 1127–1134 (1959).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  23. Thomson, D. et al. Optical detection and modulation at 2 µm–2.5 µm in silicon. Opt. Express 22, 10825–10830 (2014).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  24. Emmons, R. B. Avalanche-photodiode frequency response. J. Appl. Phys. 38, 3705–3714 (1967).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  25. Foster, P. J., Doylend, J. K., Mascher, P., Knights, A. P. & Coleman, P. G. Optical attenuation in defect-engineered silicon rib waveguides. J. Appl. Phys. 99, 073101 (2006).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors thank D. Deptuck and J. Zhang at CMC Microsystems as well as L. Chrostowski of the SI-EPIC programme for facilitating device fabrication, the Canadian Centre for Electron Microscopy for SEM imaging work, C. Brooks for measurement assistance and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. Funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council in the UK also supported this work (to support the MIGRATION and Silicon Photonics for Future Systems projects). G.M. acknowledges support from the Royal Society through his Royal Society Research Fellowship. G.R. is a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award holder and acknowledges the Wolfson Foundation and the Royal Society for funding the award. The authors thank M. Nedeljkovic for discussions and assistance with device simulation, Z. Li for use of his custom-built TDFA, S. Alam for laser diodes and R. Slavik for measurement assistance and discussions.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Engineering Physics, McMaster University, 1280 Main St West, Hamilton, L8S 4L7, Ontario, Canada

    Jason J. Ackert & Andrew P. Knights

  2. Optoelectronics Research Centre, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, Hampshire, UK

    David J. Thomson, Li Shen, Anna C. Peacock, Graham T. Reed & Goran Z. Mashanovich

  3. Department of Physics and Computer Science, Wilfrid Laurier University, 75 University Avenue West, Waterloo, N2L 3C5, Ontario, Canada

    Paul E. Jessop

Authors
  1. Jason J. Ackert
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. David J. Thomson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Li Shen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Anna C. Peacock
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Paul E. Jessop
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Graham T. Reed
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Goran Z. Mashanovich
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Andrew P. Knights
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

J.A., D.T. and L.S. performed the experiments. A.P. and G.R. were responsible for the measurement systems. J.A. and A.K. designed the devices and wrote the manuscript. G.M. and D.T. discussed the results and assisted with manuscript preparation. P.J. contributed to the device and experimental design. A.K. and G.M. supervised and coordinated the project. All authors contributed to writing the paper.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jason J. Ackert.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Supplementary information

Supplementary information (PDF 451 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ackert, J., Thomson, D., Shen, L. et al. High-speed detection at two micrometres with monolithic silicon photodiodes. Nature Photon 9, 393–396 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2015.81

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2015.81

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing