Monolithic Ge/SiGe quantum well photodetectors integrated with SiN waveguides on 200 mm silicon wafers

Monolithic Ge/SiGe quantum well photodetectors integrated with SiN waveguides on 200 mm silicon wafers | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Monolithic Ge/SiGe quantum well photodetectors integrated with SiN waveguides on 200 mm silicon wafers Ilias Skandalos, Thalía Bucio, Lorenzo Mastronardi, Guomin Yu, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6878946/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The rapid growth of data processing is driving an urgent need for high-speed, low-power transceivers to support compute and interconnect demands in data centres. Here, we demonstrate a monolithically integrated O-band Ge/SiGe quantum-confined Stark effect (QCSE) photodetector seamlessly integrated with silicon nitride (SiN) waveguides on a silicon substrate. Our detector achieved open eye-diagrams at 40 Gbs−1, 3-dB bandwidths up to 15.8 GHz and a large responsivity of >3 A/W in avalanche mode. In addition, for a moderate −3 V bias a minimal dark current density of 0.03 Acm−2 was measured and a 20 Gbs−1 data rate was achieved. By leveraging CMOS-compatible fabrication processes, we enable the integration of multiple quantum-well stacks with SiN for both modulation and detection, all within a single wafer-scale fabrication run on silicon. This work contributes to the development and convergence of electronics and photonics through fast low-power optical interconnect technologies, laying the foundation for future photonic integrated systems and data centre communication links. Physical sciences/Optics and photonics/Optical materials and structures/Silicon photonics Physical sciences/Optics and photonics/Optical materials and structures/Quantum dots Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6878946","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":475060936,"identity":"9c05ffec-d28e-4a73-bbe9-d63420dc76fa","order_by":0,"name":"Ilias Skandalos","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA8klEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBAC+Qb2x0CKmYGPgYHxAZJEAk4tbAw8xmAtbEDCgIHBgCgtzDAtbBJEazH4ucNano29/Vnlj4o/cuYMzA8/MLal4dHC/jix90y6YRvPGbPbPGcMjC0b2IwlGNty8GhhMD7A23aYsU0ih+02Y5tB4oYDDGYMjG0VeLUc/Nt22L5NIv1Z4U+wFvZvBLUkA21JbJNIMGPgBWvhAdmCx2HMPMbGsm3pyUC/GEsDsbHBYZ5iiYRzuL0v397+WPJtm7VtP3v7w48/KuTkDI63b/zwoSwZpxYGZqwiCbg1jIJRMApGwSggAgAAK+hH81EfB/oAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9021-1420","institution":"University of Southampton","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ilias","middleName":"","lastName":"Skandalos","suffix":""},{"id":475060937,"identity":"2940539c-de78-4fa1-a680-474a4cefe286","order_by":1,"name":"Thalía Bucio","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Southampton","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Thalía","middleName":"","lastName":"Bucio","suffix":""},{"id":475060938,"identity":"b646f988-995e-4ae4-a364-aeb699adee3b","order_by":2,"name":"Lorenzo Mastronardi","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Lorenzo","middleName":"","lastName":"Mastronardi","suffix":""},{"id":475060939,"identity":"4c81f8f4-7533-4ed3-8670-fda89852d6fa","order_by":3,"name":"Guomin Yu","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Rockley Photonics","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Guomin","middleName":"","lastName":"Yu","suffix":""},{"id":475060940,"identity":"6ffb8f8f-f3b1-4d52-8e99-6ddc8d21b72c","order_by":4,"name":"Aaron Zilkie","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Rockley Photonics","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Aaron","middleName":"","lastName":"Zilkie","suffix":""},{"id":475060941,"identity":"a32c1c1f-016a-4e9e-8373-1cc59320d82e","order_by":5,"name":"Frederic Gardes","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1400-3272","institution":"University of Southampton","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Frederic","middleName":"","lastName":"Gardes","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-06-12 09:40:48","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6878946/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6878946/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":96454537,"identity":"66210b63-39e1-4c9d-bb8a-c5160a8fcead","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-21 10:02:51","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":3612536,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Article File","description":"","filename":"Manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6878946/v1_covered_d2abb155-6a26-40f5-b477-83c52130e897.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"Monolithic Ge/SiGe quantum well photodetectors integrated with SiN waveguides on 200 mm silicon wafers","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":true,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-portfolio","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Portfolio","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":false,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6878946/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6878946/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"The rapid growth of data processing is driving an urgent need for high-speed, low-power transceivers to support compute and interconnect demands in data centres. Here, we demonstrate a monolithically integrated O-band Ge/SiGe quantum-confined Stark effect (QCSE) photodetector seamlessly integrated with silicon nitride (SiN) waveguides on a silicon substrate. Our detector achieved open eye-diagrams at 40 Gbs−1, 3-dB bandwidths up to 15.8 GHz and a large responsivity of \u003e3 A/W in avalanche mode. In addition, for a moderate −3 V bias a minimal dark current density of 0.03 Acm−2 was measured and a 20 Gbs−1 data rate was achieved. By leveraging CMOS-compatible fabrication processes, we enable the integration of multiple quantum-well stacks with SiN for both modulation and detection, all within a single wafer-scale fabrication run on silicon. This work contributes to the development and convergence of electronics and photonics through fast low-power optical interconnect technologies, laying the foundation for future photonic integrated systems and data centre communication links.","manuscriptTitle":"Monolithic Ge/SiGe quantum well photodetectors integrated with SiN waveguides on 200 mm silicon wafers","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-07-08 10:42:30","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6878946/v1","editorialEvents":[],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"communications-engineering","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"commseng","sideBox":"Learn more about [Communications Engineering](http://link.springer.com/journal/44172)","snPcode":"44172","submissionUrl":"https://mts-commseng.nature.com/cgi-bin/main.plex","title":"Communications Engineering","twitterHandle":"@commseng","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"79471d83-b34b-4c7a-8994-ba59a25db9e6","owner":[],"postedDate":"July 8th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[{"id":50441638,"name":"Physical sciences/Optics and photonics/Optical materials and structures/Silicon photonics"},{"id":50441639,"name":"Physical sciences/Optics and photonics/Optical materials and structures/Quantum dots"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-05-04T22:10:36+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-07-08 10:42:30","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-6878946","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-6878946","identity":"rs-6878946","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}