An amorphous SiC/Si heterojunction p-i-n diode for low-noise and high-sensitivity UV detector

Author

Fang, Y.K. ; Hwang, Shen-Beng ; Chen, Kuin-Hui ; Liu, Ching-Ru ; Tsai, Ming-Jang ; Kuo, Lee-Ching

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. Eng., Nat. Cheng Kung Univ., Tainan, Taiwan

Volume

39

Issue

2

fYear

1992

fDate

2/1/1992 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

292

Lastpage

296

Abstract

The authors report the UV photoresponse of an a-SiC/a-Si heterojunction p-i-n diode with the structure of glass/TCO (transparent conducting oxide, SnO₂:F)/p-a-SiC:H/i-a-Si:H/n-a-Si:H/Al. The diode has been designed for a high-sensitivity and low-noise UV detector. The diode has its peak responsivity (0.254 A/W) and quantum efficiency (81.5%) at 385 nm. This structure possesses (1) the window effect by using the wide-bandgap a-SiC:H as the front layer (p-layer) and (2) the carrier confinement effect at the p-SiC:H/i-a-Si:H interface. Enhancements are proposed to raise UV response and suppress long-wave responsivity. The diode was designed to be operated under zero external bias to suppress the dark-current-induced noise. Results show a 200% higher UV sensitivity than a GaAsP Schottky photodiode in the 200-400-nm wavelength region

Keywords

amorphous semiconductors; electron device noise; p-i-n diodes; photodiodes; silicon; silicon compounds; ultraviolet detectors; 200 to 400 nm; 81.5 percent; SiC-Si; UV photoresponse; amorphous SiC/Si heterojunction; carrier confinement effect; dark-current-induced noise; glass; high-sensitivity UV detector; low-noise UV detector; p-i-n diode; quantum efficiency; responsivity; sensitivity; transparent conducting oxide; window effect; zero external bias operation; Amorphous materials; Detectors; Glass; Heterojunctions; Optical noise; P-i-n diodes; P-n junctions; Photodiodes; Schottky diodes; Silicon carbide;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Electron Devices, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9383

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/16.121685

Filename

121685