High-performance III-V photodetectors on a monolithic InP/SOI platform

Integrating light emission and detection functionalities using efficient III-V materials on Si wafers is highly desirable for Si-based photonic integrated circuits. To fulfill the need of high-performance photodetectors (PDs) monolithically integrated on Si for Si photonics, we demonstrate III-V PDs directly grown on a InP/Si-on-insulator (SOI) platform parallel to the Si device layer in a variety of device dimensions. Device characteristics including a 3 dB bandwidth beyond 40 GHz, open eye diagrams at 40 Gb/s, a dark current of 0.55 nA, a responsivity of 0.3 A/W at 1550 nm, and 0.8 A/W at 1310 nm together with a 410 nm operation wavelength span from 1240 nm to 1650 nm are achieved. We further simulate the feasibility of interfacing the III-V PDs with the Si waveguide by designing waveguide-coupled PDs with butt coupling schemes. These results point to a practical solution for the monolithic integration of III-V active components and Si-based passive devices on a InP/SOI platform in the future.