Automated intelligent design of modified uni-traveling carrier photodectors

Abstract

This paper introduces an automatic intelligent design method for the modified uni-traveling carrier photodetector (MUTC-PD). The conventional photodetector design process often relies on the numerical solution of complex nonlinear partial differential equations to simulate and optimize device performance, which is not only computationally intensive but also inefficient. To overcome this challenge, we apply the charge control principle to calculate the photodetector bandwidth, which improves the computational speed by a factor of approximately 1800 compared to the numerical solution of nonlinear partial differential equations. To further optimize the structure of the photodetector, we incorporate the Velocity Varying Climbing Particle Swarm Optimization (VVCPSO) algorithm. This is an improved algorithm based on the traditional particle swarm algorithm, which is able to quickly find the optimal solution in a complex parameter space. By applying the VVCPSO algorithm, we successfully fine-tuned the photodetector structure and obtained structural parameters with optimal performance. Our thorough verification process confirms that the proposed method is consistent with the results of ATLAS simulation software. Automated design has resulted in a high-performance MUTC-PD with a responsivity of 0.52A/W and a bandwidth of 60 GHz (@-3 V) at a mesa diameter of 16µm. Compared to the pre-optimized device, the bandwidth is increased to three times the original. By reducing the mesa diameter to 4µm, the bandwidth can be further increased to 82 GHz (@-3 V). The proposed method's calculation speed is fast enough, enabling extensive parameter studies to optimize device performance.