High-speed polysilicon CMOS photodetector for telecom and datacom

Absorption by mid-bandgap states in polysilicon or heavily implanted silicon has been previously utilized to implement guided-wave infrared photodetectors in CMOS compatible photonic platforms. Here, we demonstrate a resonant guided-wave photodetector based on the polysilicon layer that is used for the transistor gate in a microelectronic SOI CMOS process without any change to the foundry process flow (“zero-change” CMOS). Through a combination of doping mask layers, a lateral pn junction diode in the polysilicon is demonstrated with a strong electric field to enable efficient photo-carrier extraction and high-speed operation. This photodetector has a responsivity of more than 0.14 A/W from 1300 to 1600 nm, a 10 GHz bandwidth, and 80 nA dark current at 15 V reverse bias.