Silicon-Germanium Photodiode in Zero-Change Advanced CMOS

Exclusively Licensed

Semiconductor devices, such as photonics devices, employ substantially curved-shaped Silicon-Germanium (SiGe) structures and are fabricated using zero-change CMOS fabrication process technologies. In one example, a closed-loop resonator waveguide-coupled photodetector includes a silicon resonator structure formed in a silicon substrate, interdigitated n-doped well-implant regions and p-doped well-implant regions forming multiple silicon p-n junctions around the silicon resonator structure, and a closed-loop SiGe photocarrier generation region formed in a pocket within the interdigitated n-doped and p-doped well implant regions. The closed-loop SiGe region is located so as to substantially overlap with an optical mode of radiation when present in the silicon resonator structure, and traverses the multiple silicon p-n junctions around the silicon resonator structure. Electric fields arising from the respective p-n silicon junctions significantly facilitate a flow of the generated photocarriers between electric contact regions of the photodetector.

Researchers

Rajeev Ram / Dinis Cheian / Luca Alloatti

Departments: Dept of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science
Technology Areas: Computer Science: Networking & Signals / Electronics & Photonics: Photonics, Semiconductors

  • semiconductor devices with curved-shape silicon germanium structures and optical resonator structures
    United States of America | Granted | 10,978,608
  • waveguide-coupled silicon-germanium photodetectors and fabrication methods for same
    United States of America | Granted | 11,105,974
  • silicon germanium photodetector apparatus and other semiconductor devices including curved-shape silicon germanium structures
    United States of America | Granted | 10,374,118

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