Voltage-tunable near Infrared photodetector: Versatile component for optical communication systems

G. Masini, L. Colace, G. Assanto, T. P. Pearsall, and H. Presting

J. Vacuum Sci. Tech. B 16, 2619-2622 (1998)

Abstract:

We present a voltage-tunable wavelength-selective photodetector (VWP) for the near-infrared (NIR), realized by engineering the optical properties of Si and Ge. The structure exhibits a wide tunability by varying the applied voltage and weighting the photocurrents generated by two back-to-back diodes. We demonstrate its versatility in deconvolving signals of different wavelengths and a preliminary study on the applications of the VWP as a solid-state spectrum analyzer. The spectrum of NIR light impinging the device can be resolved from a set of photocurrent measurements for different bias voltages.