Performance of InGaAs metal-semiconductor-metal photodetectors on Si

The performance of In/sub 0.53/Ga/sub 0.47/As metal-semiconductor-metal photodetectors on Si substrates was investigated. The devices were fabricated by standard technology employing metalorganic vapor-phase epitaxy growth on unpatterned exactly [001]-oriented Si substrates and conventional photolithography. At a bias voltage of 5 V the devices exhibit low dark currents of 10/sup -6/-10/sup -7/ A, a high responsivity of 0.26 A/W at 1.3 μm, and a cutoff frequency of 1.5 GHz. A further improvement could be achieved by increasing the bias voltage.