High-Speed Germanium Pin Photodiodes Integrated on Silicon-on-Insulator Nanophotonic Waveguides

Hetero-structured silicon-germanium-silicon photodetectors operating under low-reverse-voltages with high responsivity, fast response, and low dark-current levels are reported. A bit-error-rate of 10−9 is experimentally achieved for conventional data rates of 10, 20, and 25 Gbps, providing optical power sensitivities of −13.9, −12.7, and −11.3 dBm.