InGaAs PIN photodiodes on semi-insulating InP substrates with bandwidth exceeding 14 GHz

Abstract The top-illuminated InGaAs PIN photodiodes have been fabricated from materials grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy. Using the planar air-bridge approach and the selective etching technique, it can eliminate the significant bondpad capacitance which is present in conventional PIN photodiodes on conducting substrates. Besides, a self-aligned lift-off process is used for the n -contact recess and metallization. The anti-reflection coating devices have responsivity of 0.79 and 0.78 A/W at 1.3 and 1.55 μm, respectively. The fabricated devices with 30 μm photosensitive diameter have a very low dark current below 0.2 nA and low capacitance of 143 fF at −5V bias voltage. The 3-dB bandwidth of these devices is in excess of 14.8 GHz which is in good agreement with the calculated minority-carrier transit time through an absorbing layer thickness of 1.85 μm. The device performance reveals that these devices are potentially suitable for the applications in optoelectronic integrated circuits.