Microring-Based Resonant Cavity Waveguide Photodetectors for WDM Optical Systems

Analytical models for bandwidth and bandwidth-efficiency product (BEP) of microring waveguide photodetectors (MRWPDs) are presented. In addition to carrier transport and charging processes, the photon lifetime effect is included in the bandwidth model. This effect is characterized by the ODB of microring resonators. It is shown that the short cavities and partially overcoupled structures are suitable for very high speed photodetection. Meanwhile, photon lifetime can be set to obtain terahertz selective photodetectors. Also, a novel CMOS compatible silicon MRWPD is introduced and its high speed performance is investigated. It is shown this photodetector can provide BEP in order of several tens gigahertz even with very low absorption and low volume (about 2 mum 3 ) active regions.