A Germanium Photodiode is a semiconductor detector that converts near-infrared light into electrical current using germanium as the absorption material. It is often used for optical power monitoring and signal detection at telecom wavelengths such as 1310 nm and 1550 nm, as well as other near-IR sources. Performance is defined by responsivity, dark current, capacitance, bandwidth, and package configuration. GPD Optoelectronics manufactures germanium photodiodes for infrared sensing and communications.
Everyone’s talking GPUs, but the AI buildout has a quieter bottleneck: getting data into and out of chips fast enough. As data centers push toward 800G and 1.6T, silicon can’t detect the light. Germanium and InGaAs photodiodes are the unsung heroes making it work.