AlGaN Solar-Blind Avalanche Photodiodes With p-Type Hexagonal Boron Nitride

Abstract

To improve the performances of AlGaN solar-blind avalanche photodiodes (APDs), we propose a separate absorption and multiplication AlGaN APD with a p-hBN layer. The simulated results show that the p-hBN/AlGaN APD significantly decreases the breakdown voltage almost by 23% in comparison with the conventional AlGaN APD due to the use of p-hBN, which has a wider bandgap, a higher p-type doping efficiency, and a smaller spontaneous polarization. Moreover, the designed APD keeps an intrinsic solar-blind characteristic even at large reverse bias because the h-BN is completely transparent in the long wavelength direction outside the solar-blind region. The result also confirms that the p-hBN/AlGaN APD has the lower Flicker and impact ionization noise at low and medium frequency under breakdown voltage.