DocumentCode :
977576
Title :
High gain effects for solid-state impact-ionization multipliers
Author :
Lee, Hong-Wei ; Beutler, Joshua L. ; Hawkins, Aaron R.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Brigham Young Univ., Provo, UT, USA
Volume :
42
Issue :
5
fYear :
2006
fDate :
5/1/2006 12:00:00 AM
Firstpage :
471
Lastpage :
476
Abstract :
We report the demonstration of a current amplification device, built from silicon and based on impact ionization, which can be cascaded to achieve very high gains. Arbitrary current sources including photodiodes can be interfaced with this device. Testing was done by amplifying the output signal from an independent silicon photodiode. Current gains over 600 were measured for initial photocurrents of 10 nA when two amplifying devices were cascaded together. Additionally, the gain saturation phenomenon of the amplifier due to space-charge effects is investigated. The measured gain saturation is observed to match very well with theoretical predictions. We also present guidelines for obtaining high current gain from the cascaded structure while avoiding gain saturation. Because of the low-noise gain mechanism employed, this device is of potential interest to a variety of fields requiring high-sensitivity optical or electronic detection.
Keywords :
avalanche photodiodes; electron multipliers; impact ionisation; photoconductivity; semiconductor device noise; silicon; space charge; 10 nA; avalanche photodiode; cascaded structure; current amplification device; current gains; current sources; electron multiplier; gain saturation; high gain effects; high-sensitivity electronic detection; high-sensitivity optical detection; impact-ionization multipliers; low-noise gain mechanism; photocurrents; photodiodes; solid-state multipliers; space-charge effects; Current measurement; Gain measurement; Guidelines; Impact ionization; Optical amplifiers; Photoconductivity; Photodiodes; Silicon; Solid state circuits; Testing; Avalanche photodiode (APD); electron multipliers; impact ionization; space charge;
fLanguage :
English
Journal_Title :
Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of
Publisher :
ieee
ISSN :
0018-9197
Type :
jour
DOI :
10.1109/JQE.2006.873150
Filename :
1643346
Link To Document :
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