Photodetector with a resonant cavity

• US 5,315,128 A
• Filed: 04/30/1993
• Issued: 05/24/1994
• Est. Priority Date: 04/30/1993
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: American Telephone & Telegraph Company (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T, Inc.
• Inventors: Zydzik, George J., Schubert, Erdmann F., Hunt, Neil E. J.
• Primary Examiner(s): MINTEL, WILLIAM A
• Application Number:
  US08/054,947
• Time in Patent Office: 389 Days
• Field of Search: 257/21, 257/184, 257/185, 257/436, 257/17, 257/22, 257/16, 257/458, 257/432
• US Class Current: 257/16
• CPC Class Codes: G01J 3/26 using multiple reflection, e.g. Fabry-Perot interferometer, variable interference filters
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 31/02327 the optical elements being integrated or being directly associated to the device, e.g. back reflectors optical coatings H01L31/0216
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 31/0352 characterised by their shape or by the shapes, relative sizes or disposition of the semiconductor regions
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 31/105 the potential barrier being of the PIN type

Abstract

Described is a resonant-cavity p-i-n photodetector based on the reflection or transmission through a Fabry-Perot cavity incorporating non-epitaxial, amorphous layers with alternating refractive index difference which layers are electron-beam deposited on a light-gathering side of a commercially available photodetector. The materials of the Fabry-Perot cavity are selectable from materials, refractive indices of which fall within a large range (from n=1.26 for CaF₂ to n=3.5 for Si) preferably from materials which are depositable in an amorphous state. The material combinations are selected so that only wavelengths resonant with the cavity mode will be detected. The microcavity of the RC-PIN design can also be deposited on any existing detector structure, without modification of semiconductor growth. Such a photodetector would be useful for wavelength de-multiplexing applications. The ease of layer deposition, as well as the high degree of tailorability of spectral position, spectral detection width, and maximum numerical aperture of efficient detection, make the RC-PIN attractive for use in wavelength demultiplexing applications. An exemplary RC-PIN photodetector includes a Si/SiO₂ Fabry-Perot cavity electron-beam deposited on the InP substrate of a commercial InGaAs photodetector. The detection efficiency relative to a reference device was 52 percent at the resonant wavelength of 1350 nm, with a resonance width of 14 nm, and a 4 percent response for off-resonance wavelengths in the 1100-1700 nm range.

Claims

1. A photodetector which comprises a photodiode comprising a substrate, a light-absorbing region and electrodes to the substrate and the light-absorbing region, said photodiode having a light-collecting surface, in which a Fabry-Perot cavity is formed upon said light-collecting surface, said Fabry-Perot cavity including, in an ascending order from said light-collecting surface, a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) bottom mirror, an active region and a DBR top mirror, each of said top and bottom mirrors comprises a plurality of periods, each period comprising a layer of a material with higher refractive index and a layer of a material with lower refractive index than the other layer in the period, a layer with higher refractive index in one period being adjacent to a layer with lower refractive index in another period of the mirror, each of said layers in the DBR mirrors being λ

/4 thick,

said active region having a refractive index which is different from a refractive index of each adjacent layer in the periods adjoining the light absorbing region, said active region being λ

/2 thick.

2. The photodetector of claim 1, in which

said material with high refractive index is selected from the group consisting of Si, ZnS, TiO₂, GaP, cubic zirconia, and SiN_x, and

said material with low refractive index is selected from the group consisting of TiO₂, SiN_x, cubic zirconia, Al₂ O₃, phosphor silica glass, titanium silica glass, borosilicate glass, SiO₂, MgF₂, and CaF₂.

3. The photodetector of claim 1 in which said material with high refractive index comprises Si, and said material with low refractive index comprises SiO₂.

4. The photodetector of claim 1, in which a surface of said substrate is the light-collecting surface.

5. The photodetector of claim 1, in which a surface of said light absorbing region is the light-collecting surface.

6. The photodetector of claim 1, in which said photodiode comprises an InGaAs light-absorbing region grown on an InP substrate, and said material with high refractive index comprises Si, said material with low refractive index comprises SiO₂, and said active region comprises SiO₂.

7. The photodetector of claim 6, in which a material of a λ

/4 thick lowermost layer of said bottom DBR mirror adjacent the light-collecting surface of the photodiode is a low refractive index material comprising SiN_x.

8. The photodetector of claim 6, in which a material of a λ

/4 thick uppermost layer of said top DBR mirror is a low refractive index material comprising Al₂ O₃.