Monolithically integrated, broadband, high-efficiency silicon nitride-on-silicon waveguide photodetectors in a visible-light integrated photonics platform

Abstract: Visible and near-infrared spectrum photonic integrated circuits are quickly becoming a key technology to address the scaling challenges in quantum information and biosensing. Thus far, integrated photonic platforms in this spectral range have lacked integrated photodetectors. Here, we report the first silicon nitride-on-silicon waveguide photodetectors that are monolithically integrated in a visible light photonic platform on silicon. Owing to a leaky-wave silicon nitride-on-silicon design, the devices achieved a high external quantum efficiency of > 60% across a record wavelength span from $\lambda$ ~400 nm to ~640 nm, an opto-electronic bandwidth up to 9 GHz, and an avalanche gain-bandwidth product up to 173 $\pm$ 30 GHz. As an example, a photodetector was integrated with a wavelength-tunable microring in a single chip for on-chip power monitoring.