We developed a nano-photodiode that confines and absorbs the sub-wavelength-size optical near field in small-scale silicon. A surface plasmon resonance antenna is used to enhance the near field in silicon. The response time of the nanophotodiodes is shorter than that of conventional photodiodes because the separation between anode and cathode and the size of the electrodes can be as small as one thousandth of that for conventional photodiodes. The full-width at halfmaximum of the impulse response of the silicon nano-photodiode was as fast as ~20 ps even when the bias voltage was less than 1 V. This nano-photodiode technology can be applied to other semiconductor materials such as germanium and ternary compound semiconductors.

Date Published: 6 October 2006
PDF: 9 pages
Proc. SPIE 6352, Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, 63521U (6 October 2006); doi: 10.1117/12.691553

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 6352:
Optoelectronic Materials and Devices
Yong Hee Lee; Fumio Koyama; Yi Luo, Editor(s)