Germanium on silicon pin photodiodes forthe near infrared

Abstract
Novel Ge on silicon pin photodetectors have been fabricated and characterised. The devices, designed by considering the defects at the Ge/Si interface, exhibit overall performances that are among the best available, with short-circuit responsivities as high as 0.4 A/W at 1.3 µm, dark currents below 20 mA/cm2 and response times shorter than 800 ps.