Traveling-wave Amplification Photodetector (TAP detector)

High speed, high efficiency, low noise and high saturation power are the characteristics desired for detectors in high bit-rate long-haul optical communication systems. We present modeling and initial experimental results on Traveling-wave Amplification Photodetectors (TAP detectors). These novel monolithic devices combine optical gain and absorption in a traveling-wave structure, providing highresponsivity and high-speed performance, without sacrificing saturation power. Electrical isolation between gain and absorption contacts can be achieved by ion implantation, combined with impurityinduced disordering [1],[2]; this significantly reduces the absorption in the isolation region. Two configurations (shown in Fig. 1) were studied.