Waveguide-integrated black phosphorus photodetector with high responsivity and low dark current

Layered two-dimensional materials have demonstrated novel optoelectronic properties and are well suited for integration in planar photonic circuits. Graphene, for example, has been utilized for wideband photodetection. However, because graphene lacks a bandgap, graphene photodetectors suffer from very high dark current. In contrast, layered black phosphorous, the latest addition to the family of two-dimensional materials, is ideal for photodetector applications due to its narrow but finite bandgap. Here, we demonstrate a gated multilayer black phosphorus photodetector integrated on a silicon photonic waveguide operating in the near-infrared telecom band. In a significant advantage over graphene devices, black phosphorus photodetectors can operate under bias with very low dark current and attain an intrinsic responsivity up to 135 mAW(-1) and 657 mAW(-1) in 11.5-nm- and 100-nm-thick devices, respectively, at room temperature. The photocurrent is dominated by the photovoltaic effect with a high response bandwidth exceeding 3 GHz.