Lifetime of photogenerated carriers in silicon-on-insulator rib waveguides

The lifetime of photogenerated carriers in silicon-on-insulator rib waveguides is studied in connection with the optical loss they produce via nonlinear absorption. We present an analytical model as well as two-dimensional numerical simulation of carrier transport to elucidate the dependence of the carrier density on the geometrical features of the waveguide. The results suggest that effective carrier lifetimes of ⩽1ns can be obtained in submicron waveguides resulting in negligible nonlinear absorption. It is also shown that the lifetime and, hence, carrier density can be further reduced by application of a reverse bias pn junction.