Noise, responsivity and prospects for long-term stability of silicon reach-through avalanche photodiodes

Approximately 100 silicon reach-through avalanche photo-diodes of three different types have been characterised for the dependence of noise and responsivity on bias voltage, to indicate margins to be allowed for variations between devices in optical systems operating at 0.85 ¿m wavelength. Long-term stability measurements reveal a correlation between reliability and production batch.