GeSn on Si Avalanche Photodiodes for Short Wave Infrared Detection

A mesa-type normal incidence separate-absorption-charge-multiplication (SACM) Ge0.95Sn0.05/Si avalanche photodiode (APD) was fabricated. The 60-μm-diameter avalanche photodiode achieved a responsivity of ~5A/W (gain=24) and ~3.1A/W (gain=20) at 98% breakdown voltage (-14.2V) under 1310nm and 1550nm illumination respectively with a low dark current of 10μA. The −3 dB bandwidth for a 60-μm-diameter APD is about 1-1.25GHz for gains from 5 to 20, resulting in a gain-bandwidth product of 25GHz for a C-band communication wavelength of 1550nm.