Enhanced response time of GaAs based p-i-n photodetector
Abstract
The effects of thin p-region and small active area on the speed performance of an MBE-grown GaAs-based p-i-n photodetectors were investigated. These were done by conducting a time resolved photocurrent measurement using the femtosecond laser facility and a 1 GHz oscilloscope. Results show that the 250 μm diameter photodetector with thin p-layer of around 0.22 μm exhibited a time response of approximately 0.45 ns. This gives a seven-fold speed improvement compared to the previously reported p-i-n photodetector with the same device structure but has a thick player of around 1 μm. This is due to the thinner pregion, which makes the carriers to traverse the said region at a shorter time and be swept immediately to the depletion region.
Moreover, the response time for 100 μm diameter thin p-layer photodetector was enhanced to 0.16 ns. The significant increase in the temporal response is due to smaller active area that reduces the capacitance of the limited RC time constant.
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Physics connects
26-28 October 2005, Central Philippine University, Iloilo City