Tech Spotlight: Nano-structured Metal–Semiconductor–Metal Photodetector with High Peak Voltage

A research group at the University of Colorado and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed a nano-structured MSM photo-detector. This nano-structured MSM photodetector has been operated at a bias voltage of 5V, more than three times higher than that of a regular MSM photodetector.

Since their first introduction around 1975, metal–semiconductor– metal (MSM) photo-detector devices have been used in high speed optoelectronic applications, including fiber-optic links and wireless communication systems. Photodetectors are commonly used to generate short electrical pulses by optoelectronic conversion of optical pulses. An MSM photodetector is composed of interdigitated metal fingers on a semiconductor resulting in a large photosensitive area and a short transit time. The photodetector produces electrical signals by photogenerated carriers that drift towards the metal fingers. Recently the MSM photodetector has been investigated as a potential device for microwave, millimeter-wave or even terahertz-wave applications as the response of MSM photodetector has steadily improved.

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