Self-Aligned Microbonded Germanium Metal–Semiconductor–Metal Photodetectors Butt-Coupled to Si Waveguides

We present a butt-coupled Germanium (Ge) metal-semiconductor-metal photodetectors on silicon (Si) waveguides. This device is implemented by a novel process using self-aligned microbonding technique and rapid-melt-growth method for monolithically integrating single-crystal Ge and Si devices on the same plane. Through inserting a thin amorphous Si (a-Si) layer between the Ge and metal contact, the Schottky barrier height is modulated, which effectively reduces the dark current and increases the operation speed. The fabricated device shows a low dark current of 0.24 μA, a 3 dB bandwidth of 15 GHz and a responsivity of 0.25 A/W, at a bias voltage of -2.6 V for wavelength 1310 nm.