Simulation of the Metal-Semiconductor-Metal photodetector based on InGaAs for the photodetection at the wavelength 1.55 μm

In this paper we present the simulation of Metal-Semiconductor-Metal photodetector (MSM-PD) of interdigitated planar structure based on InAlAs/InGaAs adapted for photodetection at the wavelength 1.55 μm. We use the theoretical models to plot the variations of the dark current, the photocurrent, the capacity, and the cut-off frequency of the photodetector as a function of bias voltage and the interelectrode distance. The obtained results show a very low dark current, mainly due to the introduction of a thin layer to increase the Schottky barrier based on In0.52Al0.48As in the epitaxial structure of component. The obtained photocurrent and cut-off frequencies are very appreciable, these latter are mainly limited by the transit time of the photo-generated carriers given the low component capacity obtained by simulation.