Strain Enhanced High Efficiency Germanium Photodetectors in the Near Infrared for Integration with Si

Germanium-on-silicon photodetectors with responsivities as high as 0.85 A/W at 1550 nm that exhibit dark currents of 100 mA/cm2 and external efficiency up to 68% are demonstrated. Strain in the Ge film was determined to be 0.16%, reducing the optical bandgap by ~12 meV, resulting in a ~20 nm red shift at the absorption edge