Silicon lateral trench detectors for optical communications

Using a simple model based on a parallel plate approximation it is seen, as expected, that a PIN base receiver can out-perform a lateral trench detector (LTD) analog but that the advantages of monolithic integration can make up for that difference. For bandwidths in excess of 3 GHz the cost advantages of a monolithic silicon technology might still make the LTD the detector of choice in many applications especially for short haul high speed links for computer interconnects.