Polarization and p-type doping effects on photoresponse of separate absorption and multiplication AlGaN solar-blind avalanche photodiodes

Abstract

The photoresponse characteristics of separate absorption and multiplication (SAM) AlGaN solar-blind avalanche photodiodes (APDs) were investigated in detail. The p-i-n-i-n avalanche photodiodes were examined using the newly designed model of avalanche photodiodes in AlGaN. The research results showed that the dark current density was about 3.51 × 10−8 A/cm2, the light current density was 5.86 × 10−5 A/cm2 under near-zero bias, and the avalanche breakdown occurred at about 135.0 V under reverse bias, which were all consistent with the experimental data. To investigate the effects influencing the photoresponse characteristics of the APDs, their photo responsivity spectra under different biases were simulated. The APD featured a window region over the wavelength range from 260 to 280 nm with a high rejection ratio on the short-wavelength side. Meanwhile, the dependence of APD responsivity on the polarization charge revealed that the negative polarization charges strongly affected the responsivity. Increased negative polarization charges at the Al0.4Ga0.6N/Al0.6Ga0.4N interface markedly lowered the responsivity, whereas charges of the same polarity at the GaN/Al0.4Ga0.6N interface enhanced the responsivity. Furthermore, the dependence of responsivity on p-type doping was analyzed by comparison with the effects of negative polarization charges on the conduction band of the APDs. Finally, the inversion layer models are used to interpret the effects of these on the APD responsivity. This research is useful for exploring polarization and p-type doping effects in SAM AlGaN structures and realization of high responsivity solar-blind APDs.