Development of InGaAs/AlGaAsSb Geiger Mode Avalanche Photodiodes
Jonathan Taylor-Mew, Xiao Collins, Benjamin S. White, Chee Hing Tan, Jo Shien Ng
Abstract
Near-infrared linear mode Al <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$_{{0.85}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> Ga <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$_{{0.15}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> As <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$_{{0.56}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> Sb <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$_{{0.44}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> avalanche photodiodes (APDs) exhibit excellent temperature stability, potentially simplifying Geiger mode operation. We have carried out the first experimental evaluation of In <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$_{{0.53}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> Ga <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$_{{0.47}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> As/Al <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$_{{0.85}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> Ga <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$_{{0.15}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> As <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$_{{0.56}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> Sb <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$_{{0.44}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> APDs in Geiger mode. Characterization on multiple devices included temperature-dependent dark current, avalanche multiplication, dark count rate (DCR), afterpulsing, and single photon detection efficiency (SPDE). The temperature coefficient of breakdown voltage extracted from avalanche multiplication data was <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$13.5\,\,\text {mV}\cdot \text {K}^{-{1}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> , much lower than InGaAs/InP Geiger mode APDs, reducing changes in operation voltage and offering possible protection from high optical power thermal attack in communication systems. At 200 K, SPDE were 5%–16% with DCR of 1– <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$20\,\,\text {Mc}\cdot \text {s}^{-{1}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> , comparable to InAlAs and early InP-based Single Photon APDs. The afterpulsing at 200 K was negligible for hold-off time <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$50~\mu \text{s}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> (reducing to <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$5~\mu \text{s}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> at 250 K). These are similar to the performance of InGaAs/InAlAs and some InGaAs/InP Geiger mode APDs. The data reported in this article is available from the ORDA digital repository ( <uri xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">https://doi.org/10.15131/shef.data.24125721</uri> ).