Multiplication and excess noise characteristics of thin 4H-SiC UV avalanche photodiodes

Abstract

The avalanche multiplication and excess noise characteristics of thin 4H-SiC avalanche photodiodes with an i-region width of 0.1 /spl mu/m have been investigated. The diodes are found to exhibit multiplication characteristics which change significantly when the wavelength of the illuminating light changes from 230 to 365 nm. These multiplication characteristics show unambiguously that /spl beta/>/spl alpha/ in 4H-SiC and that the /spl beta///spl alpha/ ratio remains large even in thin 4H-SiC diodes. Low excess noise, corresponding to k=0.1 in the local model where k=/spl alpha///spl beta/ for hole injection, was measured using 325-nm light. The results indicate that 4H-SiC is a suitable material for realizing low-noise UV avalanche photodiodes requiring good visible-blind performance.