High gain, low noise 1550 nm GaAsSb/AlGaAsSb avalanche photodiodes

Abstract

<jats:p>High sensitivity avalanche photodiodes (APDs) operating at eye-safe infrared wavelengths (1400–1650 nm) are essential components in many communications and sensing systems. We report the demonstration of a room temperature, ultrahigh gain (<jats:inline-formula> <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <mml:mi>M</mml:mi> <mml:mo>=</mml:mo> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mn>278</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> </jats:inline-formula>, <jats:inline-formula> <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <mml:mi>λ</mml:mi> <mml:mo>=</mml:mo> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mn>1550</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mspace width="thickmathspace" /> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">n</mml:mi> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">m</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> </jats:inline-formula>, <jats:inline-formula> <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <mml:mi>V</mml:mi> <mml:mo>=</mml:mo> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mn>69.5</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mspace width="thickmathspace" /> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">V</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> </jats:inline-formula>, <jats:inline-formula> <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <mml:mi>T</mml:mi> <mml:mo>=</mml:mo> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mn>296</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mspace width="thickmathspace" /> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">K</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> </jats:inline-formula>) linear mode APD on an InP substrate using a <jats:inline-formula> <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">G</mml:mi> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">a</mml:mi> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">A</mml:mi> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">s</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mn>0.5</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">S</mml:mi> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">b</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mn>0.5</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mo>/</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">A</mml:mi> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">l</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mn>0.85</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">G</mml:mi> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">a</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mn>0.15</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">A</mml:mi> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">s</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mn>0.56</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">S</mml:mi> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">b</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mn>0.44</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> </jats:inline-formula> separate absorption, charge, and multiplication (SACM) heterostructure. This represents <jats:inline-formula> <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mo>∼</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mn>10</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mo>×</mml:mo> </mml:math> </jats:inline-formula> gain improvement (<jats:inline-formula> <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <mml:mi>M</mml:mi> <mml:mo>=</mml:mo> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mn>278</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> </jats:inline-formula>) over commercial, state-of-the-art InGaAs/InP-based APDs (<jats:inline-formula> <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <mml:mi>M</mml:mi> <mml:mo>∼</mml:mo> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mn>30</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> </jats:inline-formula>) operating at 1550 nm. The excess noise factor is extremely low (<jats:inline-formula> <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <mml:mi>F</mml:mi> <mml:mo><</mml:mo> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mn>3</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> </jats:inline-formula>) at <jats:inline-formula> <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <mml:mi>M</mml:mi> <mml:mo>=</mml:mo> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mn>70</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> </jats:inline-formula>, which is even lower than Si APDs. This design gives a quantum efficiency of 5935.3% at maximum gain. This SACM APD also shows an extremely low temperature breakdown sensitivity (<jats:inline-formula> <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>C</mml:mi> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">b</mml:mi> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">d</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> </jats:inline-formula>) of <jats:inline-formula> <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mo>∼</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mn>11.83</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mspace width="thickmathspace" /> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">m</mml:mi> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">V</mml:mi> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mo>/</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">K</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> </jats:inline-formula>, which is <jats:inline-formula> <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mo>∼</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mn>10</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mo>×</mml:mo> </mml:math> </jats:inline-formula> lower than equivalent InGaAs/InP commercial APDs. These major improvements in APD performance are likely to lead to their wide adoption in many photon-starved applications.</jats:p>

Metadata

Item Type:	Article
Authors/Creators:	Lee, S. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5669-1555 Jin, X. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7205-3318 Jung, H. Lewis, H. Liu, Y. Guo, B. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3454-8552 Kodati, S.H. Schwartz, M. Grein, C. Ronningen, T.J. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5469-0794 David, J.P.R. Campbell, J.C. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6812-7647 Krishna, S. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3889-4893
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information:	© 2023 Optica Publishing Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Dates:	Published: February 2023 Published (online): 24 January 2023 Accepted: 6 December 2022
Institution:	The University of Sheffield
Academic Units:	The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Engineering (Sheffield) > Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering (Sheffield)
Depositing User:	Symplectic Sheffield
Date Deposited:	09 Jun 2023 10:50
Last Modified:	09 Jun 2023 10:50
Status:	Published
Publisher:	Optica Publishing Group
Refereed:	Yes
Identification Number:	10.1364/optica.476963
Related URLs:	Author
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID):	oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:199624

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High gain, low noise 1550 nm GaAsSb/AlGaAsSb avalanche photodiodes

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