Indirect optical crosstalk reduction by highly-doped backside layer in single-photon avalanche diode arrays

Abstract

A method of reducing indirect optical crosstalk in single-photon avalanche diode arrays is investigated by TCAD simulations. The reduction is accomplished by taking advantage of an enhanced optical absorption in a highly-doped Si layer on the backside of the wafer. A simulation environment was developed to give information about optical crosstalk by incorporating the experimental optical constants of the materials constituting the crosstalk-reduction layer. It is shown that the indirect optical crosstalk is greatly reduced by increasing the thickness and doping of the layer. A crosstalk reduction of 5 orders of magnitude is gained with addition of 1-μm-thick $$\hbox {PureB}/\upalpha \hbox {-Si}$$ stack for the array processed on a p-type substrate, while the same reduction is achieved with a 1-μm-thick highly-doped Si layer (As, $$1.1\times 10^{20}\, \hbox {cm}^{-3}$$ ) for an array processed on an n-type substrate.