Studying the impact of intrinsic layer shape on the performance of p–i–n photodiodes in standard SiPh processes

Abstract This paper presents a simulation-based comparative study of three junction topologies, named as single, zigzag and interweaved junctions, and the effects of such junction topologies on the performance of silicon p–i–n photodetectors. The studied detectors are simulated using standard silicon photonic technology parameters (GF-45CLO) at λ = 450 nm. The effects of these different intrinsic eye architectures on various properties, such as photocurrent, dark current, photoresponsivity, space-charge concentration and junction capacitance, are demonstrated. The effect of varying the intrinsic width for the single junction structure is also discussed.