Deep ultraviolet enhanced silicon carbide avalanche photodiodes

Abstract

High sensitivity deep ultraviolet (DUV) photodetectors operating at wavelengths shorter than 280 nm are useful for various applications, including chemical and biological identification, optical wireless communications, and UV sensing systems (1). While semiconductor avalanche photodiodes (APDs) can be more compact, lower cost and more rugged than the commonly used photomultiplier tubes (PMTs), commercially available devices such as silicon (Si) single photon counting APDs have poor DUV single photon detection efficiency. In contrast, silicon carbide (SiC) APDs are ideal for high-sensitivity detection applications, as they can possess very low dark currents, small k factor, and high gain (2). However, the responsivity of these devices diminishes at wavelengths shorter than 260 nm due to increasing absorption and carrier generation in the top doped layer of this device, the short diffusion length of minority carriers in this region, and the presence of a high density of surface states.