Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a new design for SiGe APDs that can be manufactured in a low-cost silicon foundry, allowing these constraints to be bypassed. This results in a single chip with a full optical receiver subsystem, along with supporting transimpedance and limiting amplifiers, and decision and clock recovery circuits. This solution also reduces parasitic series spreading resistance, improves uniformity of electric field across the active junction area, and mitigates edge breakdown and trap-assisted-tunning based dark current.

The invention is a new design for a semiconductor photodetector that operates based on the principle of avalanche multiplication to detect light signals. The photodetector can be made using existing semiconductor foundry processes and is capable of supporting a full optical receiver subsystem, with all requisite supporting electronics. The innovation improves carrier mobility and electric field uniformity.