Performance of In0.53Ga0.47As/InP avalanche photodiodes

Author

Forrest, Stephen R. ; Smith, Richard G. ; Kim, Ock Ky

Author_Institution

Bell Lab., Murray Hill, NJ, USA

Volume

18

Issue

12

fYear

1982

fDate

12/1/1982 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

2040

Lastpage

2048

Abstract

We calculate operating characteristics of high-sensitivity high-speed In0.53Ga0.47As/InP avalanche photodiodes (APD\´s). We find that significant photocurrent gain is obtained for a total fixed-charge density of $\\sigma _{\\tot} > 3 \\times 10^{12}$ cm^-2in the depleted InP and0.53Ga0.47As regions. To obtain high quantum efficiency and low tunneling currents, the fixed-charge density in the InP must be in the range $2 \\times 10^{12}$ cm^-2 $\\leq \\sigma _{B} \\leq 3 \\times 10^{12}$ cm^-2. We calculate the breakdown voltages for APD\´s with uniformly doped layers and find that practical detectors with avalanche breakdowns as low as 15 V can be realized. High quantum efficiency and fast response are obtained by compositional grading of the In0.53Ga0.47As heterointerface over a distance of $L g\\sim 380$ Å, depending on the doping and amount of the In0.53Ga0.47As layer swept out at breakdown. Finally, a comparison of calculations with experimental results is presented.

Keywords

Avalanche photodiodes; Optical fiber receivers; Avalanche photodiodes; Dark current; Detectors; Doping; Electric breakdown; Fabrication; Indium phosphide; Optical fiber communication; Photonic band gap; Tunneling;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9197

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JQE.1982.1071478

Filename

1071478