MSM photodiodes

Abstract

Metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) photodiodes are a class of photodetectors comprised of back-to-back Schottky diodes that use an interdigitated electrode configuration on top of an active light absorption layer. MSM photodiodes are becoming a viable option for light detection. These photodiodes are simple and, therefore, cheap to integrate with electronics. They also allow very large area detectors to facilitate coupling to optical fibers without degrading the bandwidth. Some manufacturing issues still exist which need to be overcome, but MSM photodiodes are starting to appear in the marketplace.