Analysis of Single-Photon-Detection Characteristics of GaInAs/InP Avalanche Photodiodes

Author

Sugihara, Kohei ; Yagyu, Eiji ; Nishioka, Tsuyoshi ; Kurata, Tetsuyuki ; Matsui, Mitsuru ; Tokuda, Yasunori ; Itoh, Kazuyoshi

Author_Institution

Commun. Network Center, Mitsubishi Electr. Corp., Amagasaki, Japan

Volume

46

Issue

10

fYear

2010

Firstpage

1444

Lastpage

1449

Abstract

An effective method to analyze the origin of primary dark counts is presented for single-photon-detection avalanche photodiodes (APDs) operated in the gated Geiger modes. It is revealed that a band-to-band tunneling model reproduces the experimental data very well for GaInAs/InP single-photon-detection APDs, while a phonon-assisted tunneling model fails. Therefore, we concluded that primary dark counts are dominated by the band-to-band tunneling for the GaInAs/InP single-photon-detection APDs. Then, we calculate the dark count probability and the detection efficiency by modeling the band-to-band tunneling. It is found that the ratio of the dark count probability to the detection efficiency is reduced by decreasing the impurity concentration of the multiplication region and of the p-type window.

Keywords

III-V semiconductors; avalanche photodiodes; gallium compounds; indium compounds; photodetectors; semiconductor device models; tunnelling; GaInAs-InP; Geiger modes; avalanche photodiodes; band-to-band tunneling model; dark count probability; detection efficiency; primary dark counts; single photon detection; Avalanche photodiodes; Data models; Impurities; Indium phosphide; Logic gates; Photonics; Tunneling; Avalanche photodiode (APD); band-to-band tunneling; geiger mode; phonon-assisted tunneling; single-photon-detection;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9197

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JQE.2010.2050765

Filename

5565336