Effects of a a-Si:H layer on reducing the dark current of 1310nm metal–germanium–metal photodetectors

Two approaches of hydrogenated-amorphous-silicon (a-Si:H), as Schottky-barrier height (SBH) enhancement and passivation layers, were investigated to suppress dark current of 1310nm metal–germanium–metal photodetectors (MGM-PDs). Observations show that when a-Si:H is inserted between metal and Ge, the dark current is effectively reduced due to SBH enhancement, but similarly lowers photocurrent resulting from the blocking of a-Si:H. In contrast with a-Si:H acting as a passivation layer a very high photo-to-dark current ratio of 6530 is achieved with a high responsivity of 0.72A/W, attributing to the defect centers on the Ge surface which are passivated. Such a result suggests that the a-Si:H passivation layer is a good candidate in fabricating high-quality 1310nm MGM-PDs.