Numerical Modeling of Silicon Photodiodes for High-Accuracy Applications Part II. Interpreting Oxide-Bias Experiments.

Abstract

The semiconductor device modeling program PC-1D and the programs that support its use in high-accuracy modeling of photodiodes, all of which were described in Part I of this series of papers, are used to simulate oxide-bias self-calibration experiments on three different types of silicon photodiodes. It is shown that these simulations can be used to determine photodiode characteristics, including the internal quantum efficiency for the different types of photodiodes. In the latter case, the simulations provide more accurate values than can be determined by using the conventional data reduction procedure, and an uncertainty estimate can be derived. Finally, it is shown that 0.9997 ± 0.0003 is a nominal value for the internal quantum efficiency of one type of photodiode over the 440 to 460 nm spectral region.