Performance enhancement of Ge/Si avalanche photodetector by specific sidewall passivation using remote oxygen plasma treatment

We report an obvious improvement in the performance of a separated absorption charger-layer multiplication Ge/Si avalanche photodetector, achieved by passivating the sidewalls with a low-temperature remote oxygen plasma (ROP) treatment. The dangling bonds on the Ge surface can be efficiently passivated by the formation of an ideal Ge/GeO 2 interface. With ROP passivation, the leakage current of the device shows a three- to fourfold decrease at 300 K, resulting in a dark current ( I dark ) of 3.5 × 10 −6 A at 90% avalanche voltage ( V br ) and 3.4 × 10 −7 A at punch-through voltage ( V puhch-through ) for the 26 μ m-diameter device. A reduction of over tenfold is demonstrated at 200 K and the passivation mechanism is revealed. In addition, a multiplication gain of 94 is obtained under 1550 nm illumination. The device with ROP passivation shows an improved gain bandwidth product of 190 GHz. The enhanced high-frequency response of the device with ROP passivation can be attributed to the alleviation of the retarding effect caused by the interface state on the sidewalls. Without using a trans-impedance amplifier, an opening eye diagram at 28 Gbps is demonstrated, indicating reliable device transmission performance.