Timing properties of an avalanche diode for single photon counting

A new concept for a silicon single photon counter has been developed at the Semiconductor Laboratory of the Max-Planck-Institute for Physics. The concept combines the principles of a drift diode and an avalanche diode. The electron which is generated by an incoming photon has to drift to the small avalanche region and avalanche breakdown will take place. The detector is operated in Geiger mode. In order to provide high efficiency and good timing properties, the electrons have to be focussed properly with short time jitter. Therefore, drift and timing properties have been investigated using simulations.