High-performance metal-semiconductor-metal photodetector with a thin hydrogenated amorphous silicon layer on crystalline silicon

A thin intrinsic hydrogenated amorphous silicon (i-a-Si:H) layer was used to improve the performance of Si metal-semiconductor-metal photodetectors (MSM-PDs). At a bias of 10 V, this a-Si:H MSM-PD had a rise time of 25 ps and an FWHM of 55 ps for temporal response, a dark current density of 690 fA//spl mu/m/sup 2/, a responsivity of 0.7 A/W and a spectral response peaking at 700 nm.