GaAs/GaAsSb Core–Shell Configured Nanowire-Based Avalanche Photodiodes up to 1.3 μm Light Detection

Abstract

We report the first study on a GaAs/GaAsSb core–shell (CS)-configured nanowire (NW)-based separate absorption, charge control, and multiplication region avalanche photodiode (APD) operating in the near-infrared (NIR) region. Heterostructure NWs consisted of GaAs and tunable band gap GaAs1–xSbx serving as the multiplication and absorption layers, respectively. A doping compensation of absorber material to boost material absorption, segment-wise annealing to suppress trap-assisted tunneling, and an intrinsic i-type and n-type combination of the hybrid axial core to suppress axial electric field are successfully adopted in this work to realize a room-temperature (RT) avalanche photodetection extending up to 1.3 μm. In an APD device operating at RT with a unity-gain responsivity of 0.2–0.25 A/W at ∼5 V, the peak gain of 160 @ 1064 nm and 18 V reverse bias, gain >50 @ 1.3 μm, are demonstrated. Thus, this work provides a foundation and prospects for exploiting greater freedom in NW photodiode design using hybrid axial and CS heterostructures.