Avalanche Gain Research Articles

Spatial Nonuniformity of Photoresponse in SiC UV Avalanche Photodiodes Operating in Linear and Geiger Mode

Silicon Carbide's intrinsic material properties, along with the availability of low-defect density, 6" substrates, make it an attractive material system for visible-blind ultraviolet (UV) detectors. Avalanche photodiodes (APDs) made from SiC have been shown to operate both as linear mode detectors with high gain (>10⁷) and as single-photon avalanche detectors (SPADs) with competitive photon detection efficiency. However, reported spatial non-uniformities in photoresponse of these devices will reduce sensitivity [1,2].In this paper, we examine the impact of device geometry, epitaxial variations, and crystal anisotropy on the spatial uniformity of photoresponse in SiC APDs. Photoresponse maps are generated using a fast 285 nm pulsed LED source that is tightly focused to a ~10 µm spot. Response maps are measured for devices with different geometries fabricated on the same chip in both linear-mode and Geiger-mode. Measurements on standard pin diodes will be presented, along with separate absorption, charge, and multiplication (SACM) structures.Experimental results indicate that all devices exhibit localized regions of high photoresponse at gain > 1000 and that the spreading of the photoresponse is highly directional. Finger diodes with 120 μm x 30 μm mesas exhibit good response uniformity with a variation < 30% across the device. In contrast, diodes with 60 and 90 μm square-shaped mesas exhibit similar uniform response spreading along one edge that is bounded by the size of the mesa, but a >10x drop in relative response over ~30-40 μm in the orthogonal direction which is much shorter than the extent of the mesa. Devices with 100 μm circular mesas exhibit somewhat similar results to the square diodes, but with the presence of multiple hot spots in response.Experimental results are analyzed through 3D numerical modeling of devices which accounts for the effects of doping and thickness variations across the substrate as well as the anisotropy of impact ionization. Modeling indicates that small variations in the thickness in the drift regions of a diode can yield meaningful variations in avalanche gain across the mesa. The impact of anisotropic impact ionization will be considered using full-band 3D Monte Carlo calculations. X. Bai, H.-D. Liu, D. C. McIntosh and J. C. Campbell, "High-Detectivity and High-Single-Photon-Detection-Efficiency 4H-SiC Avalanche Photodiodes," IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 45 300-303 (2009). DOI: 10.1109/JQE.2009.2013093.L. Su et al, "Recent progress of SiC UV single photon counting avalanche photodiodes," J. Semicond. 40 121802 (2019). DOI: 10.1088/1674-4926/40/12/121802. Figure 1

First results on monolithic CMOS detector with internal gain

In this paper we report on a set of characterisations carried out on the first monolithic LGAD prototype integrated in a customised 110 nm CMOS process having a depleted active volume thickness of 48 μm. This prototype is formed by a pixel array where each pixel has a total size of 100 μm× 250 μm and includes a high-speed front-end amplifier. After describing the sensor and the electronics architecture, both laboratory and in-beam measurements are reported and described. Optical characterisations performed with an IR pulsed laser setup have shown a sensor internal gain of about 2.5. With the same experimental setup, the electronic jitter was found to be between 50 ps and 150 ps, depending on the signal amplitude. Moreover, the analysis of a test beam performed at the Proton Synchrotron (PS) T10 facility of CERN with 10 GeV/c protons and pions indicated that the overall detector time resolution is in the range of 234 ps to 244 ps. Further TCAD investigations, based on the doping profile extracted from C(V) measurements, confirmed the multiplication gain measured on the test devices. Finally, TCAD simulations were used to tune the future doping concentration of the gain layer implant, targeting sensors with a higher avalanche gain. This adjustment is expected to enhance the timing performance of the sensors of the future productions, in order to cope with the high event rate expected in most of the near future high-energy and high-luminosity physics experiments, where the time resolution will be essential to disentangle overlapping events and it will also be crucial for Particle IDentification (PID).

Solar blind avalanche photodetector based on a n-β-Ga2O3/n-Si heterojunction via an introduction of AlN buffer layer for interface lattice and band Engineering

The ultrawide-band gap semiconductor Ga2O3 as a photodetector heteroepitaxially grown on Si is expected to be widely used for weak solar-blind signal detections because the optical filters typically used in Si-based UV detectors can be avoided. Photodetectors fabricated from Ga2O3/Si are promising for multi-color detection (Ga2O3-based for UV and Si-based for visible/IR) and are more compatible with traditional Si-based electronic circuits. This paper proposes an n-type semiconductor-barrier-n-type semiconductor (n/B/n) with a unipolar barrier β-Ga2O3/AlN/n-Si heterostructure as a solar-blind avalanche photodetector. Introducing the AlN buffer layer eliminates the native amorphous SiOx layer, reduces lattice mismatch between β-Ga2O3 and Si, and improves the quality of β-Ga2O3 crystallization. Embedding AlN increases the conduction band shift of β-Ga2O3/Si, limits electron migration, reduces device dark current, and increases the reverse breakdown voltage. The β-Ga2O3/AlN (150 nm)/n-Si heterostructure has a high responsivity of 131.3 A/W with a detectivity of 2.9 × 1015 Jones, and an ultrahigh UV/visible (Rpeak/R400nm) rejection ratio of 5.2 × 105 at −55 V. The avalanche gain can also reach 2.7 × 104 at an 85 V reverse bias. This work provides an effective strategy for constructing a high-performance avalanche solar-blind-UV/visible/IR as a multi-color photodetector on one “chip” of a Si-based integrated circuit.

Heterojunction polarization enhancement and shielding for AlGaN-based solar-blind ultraviolet avalanche detectors.

AlGaN-based solar-blind ultraviolet avalanche detectors have huge potentials in the fields of corona discharge monitoring, biological imaging, etc. Here, we study the impact of the heterojunction polarization-related effects on the AlGaN-based solar-blind ultraviolet avalanche detectors. Our work confirms that the polarization heterojunction is beneficial to reducing avalanche bias and lifting avalanche gain by improving the electric field in the depletion region, while the polarization-induced fixed charges will lead to a redistribution of the electrons, in turn shielding the charges and weakening the electric field enhancement effect. This shielding effect will need external bias to eliminate, and that is why the polarization heterojunction cannot work at relatively low bias but has an enhancement effect at high bias. Controlling the doping level between the hetero-interface can affect the shielding effect. An unintentionally doped polarization heterojunction can effectively reduce the shielding effect, thus reducing the avalanche bias. The conclusions also hold true for the negative polarization regime. We believe our findings can provide some useful insights for the design of the AlGaN-based solar-blind ultraviolet detectors.

Multilayer Graphene/Epitaxial Silicon Near‐Infrared Self‐Quenched Avalanche Photodetectors

Abstract2D materials and their heterostructures exhibit considerable potential in the development of avalanche photodetectors (APDs) with high gain, response, and signal‐to‐noise ratio. These materials hold promise in addressing inherent technical challenges associated with APDs, such as low light absorption coefficient, elevated noise current, and substantial power consumption due to high bias resulting in only moderate current gain. In this work, a macro‐assembled graphene nanofilm (nMAG)/epitaxial silicon (epi‐Si) vertical heterostructure photodetector with a responsivity of 0.38 A W−1 and a response time of 1.4 µs is reported. The photodetectors use high‐quality nMAG as the absorption layer and a lightly‐doped epi‐Si layer as the multiplication region under the avalanche mode to provide a high responsivity (2.51 mA W−1) and detectivity (2.67 × 109 Jones) at 1550 nm, which can achieve high‐resolution imaging. In addition, the APD displays a weak noise level and an avalanche gain of M = 1123. It can work with relatively low avalanche turn‐on voltages and achieve self‐quenching by switching from illumination to dark during avalanche multiplication, with a real‐time data transfer rate of 38 Mbps in near‐infrared light communication data links. The proposed structure enables the fabrication of high‐performance APDs in the infrared range using complementary‐metal‐oxide‐semiconductor (CMOS)‐compatible processes.

Surface-normal illuminated pseudo-planar Ge-on-Si avalanche photodiodes with high gain and low noise

Germanium-on-Silicon (Ge-on-Si) avalanche photodiodes (APDs) are of considerable interest as low intensity light detectors for emerging applications. The Ge absorption layer detects light at wavelengths up to ≈ 1600 nm with the Si acting as an avalanche medium, providing high gain with low excess avalanche noise. Such APDs are typically used in waveguide configurations as growing a sufficiently thick Ge absorbing layer is challenging. Here, we report on a new vertically illuminated pseudo-planar Ge-on-Si APD design utilizing a 2 µm thick Ge absorber and a 1.4 µm thick Si multiplication region. At a wavelength of 1550 nm, 50 µm diameter devices show a responsivity of 0.41 A/W at unity gain, a maximum avalanche gain of 101 and an excess noise factor of 3.1 at a gain of 20. This excess noise factor represents a record low noise for all configurations of Ge-on-Si APDs. These APDs can be inexpensively manufactured and have potential integration in silicon photonic platforms allowing use in a variety of applications requiring high-sensitivity detectors at wavelengths around 1550 nm.

Improved temporal performance and optical quantum efficiency of avalanche amorphous selenium for low dose medical imaging.

Active matrix flat panel imagers (AMFPIs) with thin-film transistor arrays experience image quality degradation by electronic noise in low-dose radiography and fluoroscopy. One potential solution is to overcome electronic noise using avalanche gain in an amorphous selenium (a-Se) (HARP) photoconductor in indirect AMFPI. In this work, we aim to improve temporal performance of HARP using a novel composite hole blocking layer (HBL) structure and increase optical quantum efficiency (OQE) to CsI:Tl scintillators by tellurium (Te) doping. Two different HARP structures were fabricated: Composite HBL samples and Te-doped samples. Dark current and optical sensitivity measurements were performed on the composite HBL samples to evaluate avalanche gain and temporal performance. The OQE and temporal performance of the Te-doped samples were characterized by optical sensitivity measurements. A charge transport model was used to investigate the hole mobility and lifetime of the Te-doped samples in combination with time-of-flight measurements. The composite HBL has excellent temporal performance, with ghosting below 3% at 10mR equivalent exposure. Furthermore, the composite HBL samples have dark current and achieved an avalanche gain of 16. Te-doped samples increased OQE from 0.018 to 0.43 for 532nm light. The addition of Te resulted in 2.1% first-frame lag, attributed to hole trapping within the layer. The composite HBL and Te-doping can be utilized to improve upon the limitations of previously developed indirect HARP imagers, showing excellent temporal performance and increased OQE, respectively.

Characterization of a C‐RED One camera for astrophotonical applications

AbstractTo better understand the impact of the avalanche gain applied in the detector technology and apply this technology in our in‐house astrophotonic projects, we have characterized a C‐RED One camera and produced a stable and reliable method for calculating the system gain at any desired avalanche gain setting. We observed that depending on how the system gain is obtained, multiplying the system gain times the avalanche gain may not accurately produce a conversion factor from electrons to ADUs. As the acquisition of a photon transfer curve (PTC) was possible at different avalanche gain levels, several PTCs at low avalanche gain levels were acquired. Consequently, a linear fit was produced from the acquired system gain as a function of the avalanche gain setting. Through the linear fit, the effective system gain was calculated at any desired avalanche level. The effective system gain makes possible to accurately calculate the initial system gain without the ambiguity introduced by the nonlinearity of the system. Besides, the impact of the avalanche gain on the dynamic range was also analyzed and showed a stable behavior through the measured avalanche range.

Unipolar carrier multiplication high-gain and low-noise AlGaN ultraviolet avalanche photodiode with periodically stacked structure

Highly sensitive avalanche photodetector (APD) has become a promising candidate for detecting extremely weak target signals. However, the impact ionization multiplication simultaneously triggered by electrons and holes will lead to large excess noise, thus significantly influencing device avalanche performance. Herein, we propose a distinctive AlGaN-based ultraviolet avalanche photodiode with AlN/Al0.2Ga0.8N periodically stacked multiplication region. The higher effective masses and density of states in valence band renders holes limited in the quantum-well region, where thermalization plays a dominant role during carrier transport process. On the contrary, in the atomic-scale AlN/AlGaN stacked structure with a periodic thickness of 10 nm, the electron mutualization motion is conductive to electron obtaining sufficient energy to induce impact ionization. Hence, the mechanism of unipolar carrier induced avalanche multiplication effectively reduces device noise and improving multiplication gain. Meanwhile, the high electric field intensity and tilted energy band in the AlGaN/AlN periodically stacked region significantly contribute to the carrier impact ionization. Consequently, the device achieves a superior avalanche gain of more than 105 at 74 V reverse bias. It is envisioned that the unipolar carrier triggering avalanche events offers a viable route to build high-performance APDs.

Observation of photoelectric-induced microplasma avalanche breakdown in AlGaN ultraviolet photodiode with separate absorption and multiplication structure

Amplification of weak ultraviolet signals has always been a challenging issue to design and fabricate high-performance ultraviolet photodetectors. Here, we observe a distinctive microplasma breakdown behavior in AlGaN-based ultraviolet avalanche photodiodes with artificial mesa architecture. At 107 V breakdown voltage, the photocurrent increases sharply whereas dark current intriguingly remains at the extremely low level of 0.1 nA as the applied voltage increases. Simultaneously, a significant blue luminescence phenomenon is observed at the mesa edge of photodiode at breakdown voltage, indicating the occurrence of microplasma breakdown. Ultimately, the microplasma avalanche photodiode achieves a record-high avalanche gain of 3 × 106 with light–dark current ratio readily exceeding 107. Kelvin probe force microscopy was employed to reveal the physical mechanism of localized avalanche breakdown induced by photoelectric effects and elaborate the microplasma discharge process, which is related to surface states. The unprecedented detection mode of photocurrent triggering avalanche events while remaining low dark current is anticipated to effectively shield the background noise and amplify ultraviolet signals. It is worth further research to explore its possibility on high-sensitivity ultraviolet photodetection.

Non-Markovian Hole Excess Noise in Avalanche Amorphous Selenium Thin Films.

Enhancing the signal-to-noise ratio in avalanche photodiodes by utilizing impact ionization gain requires materials exhibiting low excess noise factors. Amorphous selenium (a-Se) as a wide bandgap at ∼2.1 eV, a solid-state avalanche layer, demonstrates single-carrier hole impact ionization gain and manifests ultralow thermal generation rates. A comprehensive study of the history dependent and non-Markovian nature of hot hole transport in a-Se was modeled using a Monte Carlo (MC) random walk of single hole free flights, interrupted by instantaneous phonon, disorder, hole-dipole, and impact-ionization scattering interactions. The hole excess noise factors were simulated for 0.1-15 μm a-Se thin-films as a function of mean avalanche gain. The hole excess noise factors in a-Se decreases with an increase in electric field, impact ionization gain, and device thickness. The history dependent nature of branching of holes is explained using a Gaussian avalanche threshold distance distribution and the dead space distance, which increases determinism in the stochastic impact ionization process. An ultralow non-Markovian excess noise factor of ∼1 was simulated for 100 nm a-Se thin films corresponding to avalanche gains of 1000. Future detector designs can utilize the nonlocal/non-Markovian nature of the hole avalanche in a-Se, to enable a true solid-state photomultiplier with noiseless gain.

A Near-Infrared Enhanced Field-Line Crowding Based CMOS-Integrated Avalanche Photodiode

This paper presents a CMOS-integrated linear-mode avalanche photodiode based on electric field-line crowding (EFLC-APD) to form an effective multiplication zone and a wide absorption zone. The EFLC-APD possesses a hemispherical avalanching electric field at the n-well/p- epi junction formed due to the curvature of the half-sphere cathode. A lower electric field extends radially across the entire volume of the EFLC-APD towards the substrate and towards the surface anode. Because of such a distribution of the electric field, electrons photogenerated within the whole volume drift towards the cathode. Therefore, the EFLC-APD provides a large sensitive-area to total-area ratio while offering high responsivity and bandwidth for red and near-infrared light due to its thick absorption zone and drift-based carrier transport. It is shown that the electric field distribution can be modified by the design parameters such as cathode radius and diode size in addition to doping profiles. The EFLC-APD achieves a responsivity-bandwidth (R-BW) product of 49.5 <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\frac{\mathrm{A}}{\mathrm{W}}\cdot$</tex-math></inline-formula> GHz, corresponding to the responsivity and bandwidth of 33 A/W and 1.5 GHz, respectively, at the wavelength of 850 nm. In addition, a maximum responsivity of 3.05 <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\times\, 10^{\mathrm{3}}$</tex-math></inline-formula> A/W at 2 nW optical power is achieved for the red and near-infrared spectral range. Noise characterization resulted in an excess noise factor F = 6 measured at an avalanche gain of 56.7. Due to the high sensitive-area to total-area ratio, high responsivity, large bandwidth, and CMOS compatibility, this APD is a promising optical detector for many applications.

Gain and Excess Noise in HgCdTe e-Avalanche Photodiodes at Various Temperatures and Wavelengths

Avalanche photodiodes (APDs) can amplify the weak optical signal as well as enable higher receiver sensitivity due to the internal avalanche gain, but the impact ionization process can also introduce the “excess noise”, which limits the practically achievable signal-to-noise ratio (or sensitivity) and gain-bandwidth product. Hg <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$_{\text{1} -\textit{x}}$</tex-math> </inline-formula> Cd <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$_{\textit{x}}$</tex-math> </inline-formula> Te electron-initialed APDs (e-APD) have been demonstrated to exhibit high performance in terms of gain and excess noise at 77 K. Here, we discuss the gain and excess noise properties of multiple Hg <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$_{\text{1}-\textit{x}}$</tex-math> </inline-formula> Cd <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$_{\textit{x}}$</tex-math> </inline-formula> Te e-APDs with different Cd compositions targeting at short-wavelength infrared (SWIR), mid-wavelength infrared (MWIR), and long-wavelength infrared (LWIR) band operating at various temperatures. It demonstrates that the gain of APDs increases as the temperature decreases and the cutoff wavelength of the devices increases, which is related to the decrease of electron effective mass, optical photon scattering rate, and bandgap of the materials. In addition, the low excess noise of less than 1.6 at high gains is also achieved for the devices over a wide range of temperatures. The large spin-orbit splitting energy ( <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\Delta $</tex-math> </inline-formula> so) in comparison to bandgap energy is considered to be responsible for the observed pure electron avalanche and exceptionally low excess noise. This work may provide insight into the low-noise HgCdTe APDs and is beneficial for the future applications of high-temperature operating and high-performance optical receivers.

High speed and broadband fiber-integrated WS2/Bi2O2Se avalanche photodetector

Photodetectors based on two-dimensional(2D) materials have attracted tremendous attention in recent years because of their potential for development in compact and integrated devices. Owing to the high carrier mobility and air stability, the newly discovered 2D bismuth oxyselenide (Bi2O2Se) exhibits outstanding optoelectronic properties. However, the high dark current inevitably restricts the performance of the Bi2O2Se-based photodetectors. Here, we propose and demonstrate a fiber-integrated photodetector with a low dark current of ∼10 −10 A by assembling a WS2/Bi2O2Se Van der Waals heterostructure onto the end-face of a standard optical fiber. Benefiting from the narrow bandgap of the 2D materials, the fiber-integrated photodetector exhibits a broadband detection range from 650 to 1630 nm along with a responsivity of 1.13 AW−1. The fast rise time is measured as ∼410μs, while the fall time is ∼600μs. Taking advantage of the built-in potential in the WS2/Bi2O2Se heterostructure, the photodetector can work on self-powered mode. Applied a certainly high reverse voltage, the WS2/Bi2O2Se fiber-integrated photodetector can operate at avalanche breakdown region with an external quantum efficiency of 141% and an avalanche gain of 44 under the input power of 56.7μW. Finally, the fiber-integrated photodetector is applied to measure the wrist bending owing to its high photoresponsivity. These findings indicate that our proposed device has intriguing capabilities in terms of photodetection and on-line power monitoring, which enable our proposed device to have superb application potential in a fiber-integrated multi-function system.

Mechanisms of enhanced sub-bandgap absorption in high-speed all-silicon avalanche photodiodes

All-silicon (Si) photodiodes have drawn significant interest due to their single and simple material system and perfect compatibility with complementary metal-oxide semiconductor photonics. With the help from a cavity enhancement effect, many of these photodiodes have shown considerably high responsivity at telecommunication wavelengths such as 1310 nm, yet the mechanisms for such high responsivity remain unexplained. In this work, an all-Si microring is studied systematically as a photodiode to unfold the various absorption mechanisms. At − 6.4 V , the microring exhibits responsivity up to ∼ 0.53 A / W with avalanche gain, a 3 dB bandwidth of ∼ 25.5 GHz , and open-eye diagrams up to 100 Gb/s. The measured results reveal the hybrid absorption mechanisms inside the device. A comprehensive model is reported to describe its working principle, which can guide future designs and make the all-Si microring photodiode a promising building block in Si photonics.

Extremely low excess noise avalanche photodiode with GaAsSb absorption region and AlGaAsSb avalanche region

An extremely low noise Separate Absorption and Multiplication Avalanche Photodiode (SAM-APD), consisting of a GaAs0.52Sb0.48 absorption region and an Al0.85Ga0.15As0.56Sb0.44 avalanche region, is reported. The device incorporated an appropriate doping profile to suppress tunneling current from the absorption region, achieving a large avalanche gain, ∼130 at room temperature. It exhibits extremely low excess noise factors of 1.52 and 2.48 at the gain of 10 and 20, respectively. At the gain of 20, our measured excess noise factor of 2.48 is more than three times lower than that in the commercial InGaAs/InP SAM-APD. These results are corroborated by a Simple Monte Carlo simulation. Our results demonstrate the potential of low excess noise performance from GaAs0.52Sb0.48/Al0.85Ga0.15As0.56Sb0.44 avalanche photodiodes.

Enhanced gain and detectivity of unipolar barrier solar blind avalanche photodetector via lattice and band engineering

Ga2O3-based solar blind avalanche photodetectors exhibit low voltage operation, optical filter-free and monolithic integration of photodetector arrays, and therefore they are promising to be an alternative to the bulky and fragile photomultiplier tubes for weak signal detection in deep-ultraviolet region. Here, by deliberate lattice and band engineering, we construct an n-Barrier-n unipolar barrier avalanche photodetector consisting of β-Ga2O3/MgO/Nb:SrTiO3 heterostructure, in which the enlarged conduction band offsets fortify the reverse breakdown and suppress the dark current while the negligible valance band offsets faciliate minority carrier flow across the heterojunction. The developed devices exhibit record-high avalanche gain up to 5.9 × 105 and detectivity of 2.33 × 1016 Jones among the reported wafer-scale grown Ga2O3-based photodetectors, which are even comparable to the commercial photomultiplier tubes. These findings provide insights into precise manipulation of band alignment in avalanche photodetectors, and also offer exciting opportunities for further developing high-performance Ga2O3-based electronics and optoelectronics.

Solar-blind avalanche photodetector based on epitaxial Ga2O3/La0.8Ca0.2MnO3 pn heterojunction with ultrahigh gain

Ga2O3-based avalanche photodetectors (APDs) have gained increasing attention because of their excellent photoelectric conversion capability in the UV solar-blind region. Integrating high-quality epitaxial Ga2O3 with p-type semiconductor remains an open challenge associated with the integration difficulty on alleviating its defects and dislocations. Herein, we construct an APD consisting of epitaxial β-Ga2O3/La0.8Ca0.2MnO3 heterostructure. The pn junction APDs exhibit a high responsivity of 568 A/W as well as an enhanced avalanche gain of up to 3.0×105 at a reverse bias voltage of 37.9 V. The integration capability demonstrated in this work provides exciting opportunities for further development of high-performance Ga2O3-based electronics and optoelectronics.

Gain measurements of the first proof-of-concept PicoAD prototype with a 55Fe X-ray radioactive source

The Picosecond Avalanche Detector is a multi-junction silicon pixel detector devised to enable charged-particle tracking with high spatial resolution and picosecond time-stamping capability. A proof-of-concept prototype of the PicoAD sensor has been produced by IHP microelectronics. Measurements with a 55Fe X-ray radioactive source show that the prototype is functional with an avalanche gain up to a maximum electron gain of 23.

Modeling and characteristics of MWIR HgCdTe APD at different post-annealing processes

Mid-wavelength infrared (MWIR) HgCdTe electron-initiated avalanche photodiodes (e-APDs) have presented excellent performances to resolve and count photons with linear mode. Aiming at low flux, the ROIC noise can be extremely reduced by certain gain, and very low excess noise makes opportunity for noise equivalent photon (NEPh) to be 1. Therefore, the main issue for SNR of HgCdTe APD is gain normalized dark current density (GNDCD) at high reverse bias. In this work, the architecture of multiplication region is modeled and studied. The depth and width of multiplication region are controlled by regulating the p-type doping concentration, ion implantation and post thermal annealing conditions as well. Proper processes can keep the peak electric field away from the implantation damage region, effectively increase the Shockley–Read–Hall (SRH) lifetime, reduce the multiplication region concentration and finally increase the operating voltage. Considered with dark current and gain, depletion region (I region) width is optimized and characterized to be 3–3.6 μm when I region concentration is ∼1 × 1015 cm−3 in our case. The GNDCD of MW APD (cut off wavelength ∼5.16 μm @80 k) is less than 10−6 A/cm2@≤-10 V, with avalanche gain of ∼1570@-9.8 V. The excess noise factor (F) is measured to be 1–1.4 by noise power spectral density (PSD). The NEPh value is less than 5 photons with gain up to ∼280 for MW 128 × 128 HgCdTe APD array. Simulation results anticipate that GNDCD can be further reduced by decreasing the doping concentration of I region to below 5 × 1014 cm−3. Furthermore, increasing the p-type doping concentration and band gap will significantly reduce GNDCD below to ∼10−10 A/cm2@-10 V for 4.22 μm Hg1-xCdxTe (x = 0.332) APD.