High bandwidth surface-illuminated InGaAs/InP uni-travelling-carrier photodetector

Uni-traveling-carrier photodiodes (UTC-PDs) with ultrafast response and high saturation output are reported. A gradient doping layer and a narrow InP cliff layer were introduced to enhance the saturation and bandwidth characteristics. We measured the dark current, photo response, bandwidth, and saturation current of the fabricated UTC devices. For a 15-μm-diameter device, the dark current was 3.5 nA at a reverse bias of 1 V, and the 3-dB bandwidth was 17.2 GHz at a reverse bias of 5 V, which are comparable to the theoretically values. The maximum responsivity at 1.55 μm was 0.32 A/W. The saturation output current was over 19.0 mA without bias.