Indium arsenide quantum dot waveguide photodiodes heterogeneously integrated on silicon

Abstract

Silicon photonics provides a promising platform for energy-efficient interconnects within supercomputers and data centers. However, developing a complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor compatible high-speed photodetector with low dark current has long presented a challenge in the field. In this paper, we report the first O-band InAs quantum dot (QD) waveguide photodiode (PD) heterogeneously integrated on silicon. Record low dark currents as low as 0.01 nA, responsivities of 0.34 A/W at 1310 nm and 0.9 A/W at 1280 nm, and a record high 3 dB bandwidth of 15 GHz was measured. Avalanche gain was observed and a maximum gain of up to 45 and a gain bandwidth product (GBP) of 240 GHz were achieved, which are also record high results for any QD avalanche photodetector (APD) on silicon. Additionally, we demonstrate a device sensitivity of −11 dBm at 10 Gb/s and open-eye diagrams up to 12.5 Gb/s. These QD-based PDs are able to operate as p-i-n PDs or APDs under different bias conditions and offer a promising alternative to heterogeneous InGaAs-on-silicon and SiGe counterparts in low-power optical communication links. They also leverage the same epitaxial layers and processing steps as heterogeneously integrated QD lasers, significantly simplifying the processing and reducing the cost of a fully integrated QD transceiver on silicon.