Temporal response modeling of metal-semiconductor-metal photodetector

Charge accumulation and screening of the dark electric field at high optical excitation levels greatly modify the drift conditions of the photogenerated electrons and holes in the active region of the metal-semiconductor-metal photodiode (MSM-PD). This effect gives rise to impulse response distortion and reduced bandwidth and efficiency. Several ways of improving the high-speed response of the MSM-PD are analyzed and discussed.