Excess noise characteristics of single heterojunction AlxGa1-xAs-GaAs avalanche photodiodes

Christopher Groves; John Paul Raj David; Peter N. Robson; Graham J. Rees

doi:10.1117/12.544872

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18 August 2004 Excess noise characteristics of single heterojunction AlxGa1-xAs-GaAs avalanche photodiodes

Christopher Groves, John Paul Raj David, Peter N. Robson, Graham J. Rees

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Proceedings Volume 5451, Integrated Optics and Photonic Integrated Circuits; (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.544872
Event: Photonics Europe, 2004, Strasbourg, France

Abstract

A simple Monte Carlo model is used to simulate excess noise characteristics of a range of Al_0.6Ga_0.4As - GaAs single heterojunction APDs in which the heterojunction is located at varying positions within the avalanche region. Excess noise is shown to depend critically upon the length of Al_0.6Ga_0.4As layer. The present results suggest that to achieve the lowest noise the Al_0.6Ga_0.4As layer must be sufficiently long to allow primary electrons to heat up and able to ionize as soon as they cross into the GaAs, but not so long as to allow significant hole ionization in the Al_0.6Ga_0.4As layer, which leads to noisy feedback processes. The excess noise characteristics of a range of Al_xGa_1-xAs - GaAs (x = 0.3, 0.45 and 0.6) single heterojunction APDs are measured experimentally. The excess noise is shown to increase with x, which is explained in terms of an increase in the hole ionization coefficient leading to increased noisy feedback chains.

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Christopher Groves, John Paul Raj David, Peter N. Robson, and Graham J. Rees "Excess noise characteristics of single heterojunction AlxGa1-xAs-GaAs avalanche photodiodes", Proc. SPIE 5451, Integrated Optics and Photonic Integrated Circuits, (18 August 2004); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.544872

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