Vivien - Silicon Photonics - Detection

Outline
Motivation
Main building blocks in photonics
Light propagation
Optical modulation
Light detection
Light emission
Integration
Electronic-Photonic convergence
New platforms for integration . The trends.
http://silicon-photonics.ief.u-psud.fr/
Laurent Vivien
Basic principle
Main characteristic of the material?
e-
e-
h+
Laurent Vivien
Basic principle
The aborption of photons generates electron-hole pairs
Photogenerated carriers are then collected thanks to an
external field
Photocurrent
h
e-
e-
h+
Laurent Vivien
Absorption mechanisms (II)

Direct gap SC (III-V SC)
Indirect gap SC (IV-IV SC)

Ek
Phonon
emission
h
Phonon
absorption
absorbed photons generate free electron-hole pairs
EG=hc/G
G
Laurent Vivien
Material choice
Wavelength ranges:
1.3 m 1.6 m
0.85 m
Direct bandgap
Laurent Vivien
Material choice
Wavelength ranges:
1.3 m 1.6 m
0.85 m
Indirect bandgap
Laurent Vivien
Material choice
Wavelength ranges:
1.3 m 1.6 m
0.85 m
Two choices: InGaAs or Ge
Indirect bandgap
Direct gap absorption
Laurent Vivien
Germanium on silicon:
Pros and Cons
Absorption coefficient of pure Ge:

9000 cm-1 at =1.3m
LABS95% 3.3m (!)
Low capacitance devices
High frequency operation
High carrier mobility
Laurent Vivien
Crystal lattice structure

of Silicon and Germanium
Si and Ge have a diamond lattice structure (two
interdigitated FCC lattices)
Properties
Silicon
Germanium
Lattice parameter:
a ()
5.431
5.658
Atomic density (cm-3)
5,0.1022
4,42.1022
Atom radius ()
0.117
0,122
Lattice structure
Diamond
Diamond
Lattice parameter mismatch: ~4.2 %
Laurent Vivien
Germanium on silicon:
Pros and Cons
Lattice misfit with Si of about 4.2%

specific growth strategies
required (wafer-scale and
localized)
Absorption coefficient of pure Ge:

9000 cm-1 at =1.3m
LABS95% 3.3m (!)
Low capacitance devices
High frequency operation
Low indirect bandgap: EG=0.66eV
high dark current for MSM devices
High carrier mobility
Can we directly growth Ge on silicon?

10
Laurent Vivien
The lattice mismatch

4.2% of lattice mismatch between germanium and silicon
Ge quantum dots
QD, QW or Bulk ?
Si1-xGex/Si quantum wells
Pure Ge on Si
SiGe on Si
Laurent Vivien
Ge-based structures
Ge quantum dots
~20cm-1 (90% absorption length ~ 1.1mm)
Si1-xGex/Si quantum wells

~100-200cm-1 (90% absorption length ~ 230-110m)
Pure Ge on Si
~7500cm-1 (90% absorption length ~ 3m)
Laurent Vivien
Ge growth strategies
Thick virtual SiGe substrates (10m)

Need for a new integration scheme difficult to integrate with
SOI waveguides.
Ge
SiGe buffer
graded from Si to Ge
Si(100)
13
Laurent Vivien

SOI waveguides.
Growth on thin SiGe buffers

The thickness of the thin SiGe buffer is around 1m
Always too thick for integration with SOI
Ge
SiGe buffer
graded from Si to Ge
Si(100)
14
Laurent Vivien

SOI waveguides.
Growth on thin SiGe buffers

The thickness of the thin SiGe buffer is around 1m
Always too thick for integration with SOI
Direct Ge growth on Si
Ge
Si(100)
15
Laurent Vivien
Germanium growth
Two-step growth process:
Direct growth of Ge on Si using a low temperature (350) CVD process
thin (a few 10nm) highly-dislocated Ge layer
Growth of a thick Ge layer (a few 100nm) at a higher temperature (600)
high quality Ge absorbing layer
Thermal annealing to reduce the dislocation density
HT Ge (600C,
300-500nm)
400nm
LT Ge (350C, 50nm)
Si substrate (001)
16
Laurent Vivien
Epitaxial growth techniques

Molecular beam epitaxy (MBE)
Solid sources evaporated gas sputtering on the wafer

Ultra-high vacuum required (P10-10 Torr)
Low thermal budgets (T<550C)
High-control of layer and multi-layer thicknesses (<nm)
Low growth rates (<1 nm/min)
Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD):

High-control of layer and multi-layer thicknesses (<nm)
Proper for large wafer-scale fabrication
A large variety of CVD techniques have been developed, depending on the pressure and
heating systems:
Ultra-High Vacuum CVD (UHV-CVD)
Reduced-pressure CVD (RP-CVD)
Low-energy plasma-enhanced CVD (LEPE-CVD)
17
Laurent Vivien
Absorption of Ge-on-Si
The red-shift of the absorption edge is due to the tensile strain-induced

bandgap narrowing within the Ge layer, resulting from the difference in
the thermal expansion coefficients of Ge and Si
Strong absorption up to 1.6m
18
Laurent Vivien
Photodetector characteristics
19
Laurent Vivien
Photodetector characterisitics: Quantum

efficiency (I)
Quantum efficiency ():
Probability of detecting an incident photon by generating
an electron/hole pair that contributes to the photocurrent
Ratio of the generated carriers to incident flux of photons
(i.e.: ratio of the photocurrent to the incident light power)
The spectral response is governed by the spectral
character of the quantum efficiency
20
Laurent Vivien
Photodetector characterisitics: Quantum

efficiency (II)
Quantum efficiency () depends on:
Reflectance on the surface
Absorption
: absorption
I0
I out I 0 .(1 R ). exp .L
R.I 0
L
The amount of flux that is absorbed
in the material
I abs 1 I out I 0 .(1 R ).1 exp .L
(1 R).1 exp .L
21
Laurent Vivien
Photodetector characterisitics:
Responsivity
Responsivity () is often more useful to characterize the
response of photodetectors
q. . ( m)
h.
1.24
Responsivity is typically linear with wavelength but real

photodetectors exhibit a deviation from the ideal behaviour
due to photogenerated carrier trapping
22
Laurent Vivien
Response time (I)
Response time of the photodetectors:
Internal response time
External response time
Internal response time

Transit time of carriers: depends on the velocity of carriers
in SC (varies with the doping level and the material)
Diffusion time of carriers: diffusion of carrier to be
collected. Mainly depends on the structure
Optical pulse
Response time
t
23
Laurent Vivien
Response time (II)
External response time
R1
Cd: Diode capacitance

Cp: Parasitic capacitance
Cp
Cd
Rd
Rd: Diode resistance

R1: contact and substrate
resistances
R2
typical schematic electrical circuit of the photodiode
R2: charge resistance
R1 and Rd << R2
Response time = R2 (CP + Cd)
24
Laurent Vivien
Photodetector specifications (I)

Compatibility with silicon technology
Silicon-based materials will be better
Large wafer scale technology
Permit electronic integration (Transimpedance amplifier TIA)
Low cost integration schemes
Broadband detection (1.3 -1.6 m)

High absorption coefficient
Low dark current

Electrical configuration of photodetectors,
Quality of the absorbing layer.
25
Laurent Vivien
Photodetector specifications (II)

High bandwidth (frequency operation > 10 GHz)
Low carrier transit time,
Low RC constant depend on the considered electrical
structure (pin diode, MSM detector).
High responsivity
Optimize the light interaction with absorbing layer.
Compactness
Strong absorption coefficient
26
Laurent Vivien
Photodetector integration
Two approaches
Surface illuminated
photodetectors
High bandwidth
Simple process
Low responsivity
Responsivity ~0.1 A/W

27
Laurent Vivien
Photodetector integration
Two approaches
Surface illuminated
photodetectors
photodetectors integrated
in waveguide
High bandwidth
Simple process
bandwidth
High
High responsivity
Low responsivity
Optical coupling
28
Laurent Vivien
Integrated photodetectors:
optical coupling
SOI waveguides
Single mode (TE)
Vertical coupling
Butt coupling
29
Laurent Vivien
Vertical coupling
Ge
Si
FDTD 3D
0,8
60
0,6
40
0,4
20
0,2
0
2
4
6
8
Photodetector length (m)
0
10
1
Absorbed optical power
Absorbed power (%)
80
BEP 3D
power (AU)
Absorption
Absorbed
power derivate
100
0.8
0.6
Length:
0.4
4 m
7 m
10 m
0.2
0
0
M. ROUVIRE, et al., Optical Engineering, 44 (2005) 183-187
100 200 300 400 500 600

Germanium thickness (nm)
95 % absorption length < 10 m with 310nm germanium thickness

Laurent Vivien
Butt coupling
95% absorption length < 4m
Negligible lateral divergence

31
Laurent Vivien
Ge Photodetectors
Europe: PSUD-IEF, CEA-Lti, Stuttgart Univ., Roma Univ.

Asia: Tokyo Univ., A*Star, Petra, AIST, Chinese Academy of
Sciences,
North America: Intel, MIT, IBM, Cornell, Luxtera, Ligthwire,
Kortura, Oracle
32
Laurent Vivien
Photodetector: electrical structures
MSM
PIN
D
D
P+ i N+
i
Surface contact MSM
Lateral PIN
N+
D
i
3 m
i
P+
Vertical PIN
Lateral contact MSM
33
Laurent Vivien
Diode band structure
Forward or reverse bias ?

34
Laurent Vivien
PIN Photodiodes : Design considerations

Wi
Junction disposition
Lateral PIN
Contact on Ge: only one etching step

Definition of intrinsic region by ion
implantation
3dB Bandwidth
R > 0.9 A/W
70 GHz
50 GHz
35 GHz
35
Laurent Vivien
Device Fabrication: Ge Growth

Two RPCVD steps to overcome lattice mismatch issue
Ge Seed layer
400C, 60s
SiO2
0.8 m
2 m
Ge
15 m
400C, 60s +750C, 360s
400C, 60s +750C, 180s
Ge
Si
2 m
Si recess
SiO2
15 m
1000
15 m
60s @ 400C +
360s @ 750C
Overgrowth of Ge
500
Depth (nm )
Ge
To avoid faceting inside the
cavity
To reduce Threading
Dislocation Density (TDD)
Ge
60s @ 400C +
180s @ 750C
0
60s @ 400C +
60s @ 750C
-500
300s @ 400C
-1000
36
60s @ 400C
X (m)
10
15
Laurent Vivien
Device Fabrication: Ge Growth

Post epitaxial thermal cycling to further reduce TDD
in the Ge layer
CMP step to remove protruded Ge
SiO2 encapsulation
Ion implantation of Ge
N-type : Phosphorus
P-type : Boron
Rapid Thermal Anneal
Ge
37
Laurent Vivien
Device Fabrication: Contact and Metal

Lateral
Oxide encapsulation
Planarization
Contact definition
0.4x0.4m vias for metal filling (TiN/W)
Ti/TiN/AlCu pad defined by etching
RF electrodes
Input
waveguide
10 m
38
Laurent Vivien
Results : Dark current and responsivity

Dark current median, mean and best values (373 dies per wafer)
Photodiodes
Wi=0.5m
Wi=0.7m
Wi=1m
Wafer
1
2
3
1
2
3
1
2
3
Median (nA)
85
74
112
66
62
80
68
61
71
current
Wi = 0.5m
@-1V
Mean (nA) New
433 run:
105dark1707
350~1nA
83 @ -1V
576 for 347
110
963
Best (nA)
32
25
27
18
9.5
9
19
17
6
Yield
99.2% 99.7% 97.8% 100% 100% 99.7% 100% 100% 99.7%
Responsivity @ 1550nm under Zero bias

Wi=0.5m
0.5A/W
Wi=0.7m
0.6A/WMeasured responsivity lower than theoretical values
Wi=1m
0.8A/W
Efficient carrier collection at

zero bias due to strong built-in
electric field
39
Laurent Vivien
Characterization methods:
Bandwidth (I)
Femtosecond pulse experiments
fs laser
1
Device Under Test
Acquisition System
Convolution
Photovoltage (UA)
0.8
0.6
Response time (ps)
0.4
0.2
0
0
40
80
120
Time (ps)
160
40
Laurent Vivien
Bandwidth (I)
Femtosecond pulse experiments
Opto-RF experiments with a Vector Network Analyzer
41
Laurent Vivien
Bandwidth (II)
Data transmission measurements
Pseudo Random Binary Sequence
Eye diagram
42
Laurent Vivien
Results : Bandwidth measurement

Opto-electric frequency response measurement using 50GHz
Lightwave Component Analyzer (@1550nm)
-3dB Optical
Bandwidth
Over 50GHz
@ 0V
Wi = 0.5 m
Bandwidth higher than theoretical values

43
Laurent Vivien
Discussions
Lower responsivity
Exp (A/W)
Theo (A/W)
Wi=0.5m
0.5
0.91
Wi=0.7m
0.6
0.96
Wi=1m
0.8
0.99
Higher bandwidth
Measured BW: >130GHz
Theoretical BW: 70GHz
=> Loss of photo-generated carriers
=> Faster carrier collection
Why are the responsivity lower

and the BW higher than theoritical values?
Reduction of the absorption region width
44
Laurent Vivien
Discussion: Ion implantation

Ion implantation
Monte Carlo simulation of ion implantation process
Net doping
(at/cm3)
Initial design
0.5m wide intrinsic
region
P
(Boron)
Narrowing of the intrinsic region

N
(Phosphorus)
Absorption inside the doped region

Max responsivity ~0.6A/W
After Implantation
~0.3m wide intrinsic region
Increase of the electric field strength

Max BW ~ 120 GHz
45
Laurent Vivien
Data transmission
Under zero-bias
Coll.:
10 Gbit/s
Results beyond specifications

20 Gbit/s
40 Gbit/s @ -1V
High responsivity: >

0.5A/W
High bandwidth: 40Gbit/s
Low dark current: <1nA @
30 Gbit/s
-1V
Bias voltage: 0V
40 Gbit/s
46
Laurent Vivien
How can we increase the receiver bandwidth?

.Towards Tbit/s.
47
Laurent Vivien
To improve bandwidth of receiver

Bandwidth =
Parallelism
Frequency
40Gbit/s detector
Need more wavelengths
2 x 16 channels 200GHz
centered at about 1550nm
640 Gbit/s and more
48
Laurent Vivien
Conclusion
Germanium photodetectors are more and more
considered as a mature silicon photonics devices.
The PD characteristics are close to the one of III-V PD.
Incredible at the beginning.
The trends
Development of complex circuits for Tbit/s operation
Integration with CMOS circuits (TIA)
Avalanche PD
new route to reduce the power consumption of the emitter
Photon counting Quantum optics
49
Laurent Vivien

Vivien - Silicon Photonics - Detection

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Vivien - Silicon Photonics - Detection

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Outline

New platforms for integration . The trends.

Main characteristic of the material?

Absorption mechanisms (II)

Indirect gap SC (IV-IV SC)

absorbed photons generate free electron-hole pairs

Absorption coefficient of pure Ge:

Crystal lattice structure

Atomic density (cm-3)

Lattice parameter mismatch: ~4.2 %

Lattice misfit with Si of about 4.2%

Absorption coefficient of pure Ge:

Low indirect bandgap: EG=0.66eV

high dark current for MSM devices

High carrier mobility

Can we directly growth Ge on silicon?

The lattice mismatch

Si1-xGex/Si quantum wells

Si1-xGex/Si quantum wells

Thick virtual SiGe substrates (10m)

Thick virtual SiGe substrates (10m)

Growth on thin SiGe buffers

Thick virtual SiGe substrates (10m)

Growth on thin SiGe buffers

Thermal annealing to reduce the dislocation density

Epitaxial growth techniques

Solid sources evaporated gas sputtering on the wafer

Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD):

The red-shift of the absorption edge is due to the tensile strain-induced

Photodetector characterisitics: Quantum

Photodetector characterisitics: Quantum

I out I 0 .(1 R ). exp .L

I abs 1 I out I 0 .(1 R ).1 exp .L

Responsivity is typically linear with wavelength but real

Internal response time

Cd: Diode capacitance

Rd: Diode resistance

typical schematic electrical circuit of the photodiode

R2: charge resistance

Response time = R2 (CP + Cd)

Photodetector specifications (I)

Broadband detection (1.3 -1.6 m)

Low dark current

Photodetector specifications (II)

Responsivity ~0.1 A/W

Single mode (TE)

Absorbed power (%)

M. ROUVIRE, et al., Optical Engineering, 44 (2005) 183-187

100 200 300 400 500 600

95 % absorption length < 10 m with 310nm germanium thickness

95% absorption length < 4m

Negligible lateral divergence

Europe: PSUD-IEF, CEA-Lti, Stuttgart Univ., Roma Univ.

Photodetector: electrical structures

Lateral contact MSM

Diode band structure

Forward or reverse bias ?

PIN Photodiodes : Design considerations

Contact on Ge: only one etching step

R > 0.9 A/W

Device Fabrication: Ge Growth

400C, 60s +750C, 360s