Current assisted avalanche photo diodes (CAAPDs) with separate absorption and multiplication region in conventional CMOS

Jegannathan, Gobinath; Ingelberts, Hans; Boulanger, Sven; Kuijk, Maarten

doi:10.1063/1.5116102

Cited by 7 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…A modulated hole current and drift field have been used in photonics demodulators for time-of-flight [11,12], and fast gated detectors for fluorescence lifetime imaging [13]. More recently, using the same structure as in this letter, linear gain mode avalanche photodiode operation [14] has been characterized below the breakdown voltage. The CASPAD device is embedded in a high resistive (~1000 Ω.cm) 14 µm thick p-type epilayer to limit the majority hole current level for the current assistance and its associated power dissipation.…”

Section: Detector Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The dark counts are due to contributions from the surface states, the silicide contact layer and band-to-band tunneling. The measurements in the following sections are defined in terms of excess bias voltage (V ex ) which is the voltage above the breakdown voltage (V bd ) of 52.4 V and the anode-ring voltage was maintained at +15 V was found to be the optimum voltage for fast transfer of photo-electrons [14]. Figure 4 shows the measured IV characteristics of the selected CASPAD.…”

Section: Electric Field Simulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, in CASPAD, the timing jitter is due to the sum of the statistical variation in the avalanche process and the variable time it takes for the photo-generated electrons to travel to the central avalanching region. In [14], the position dependent delay has been characterized in more detail. For characterizing the timing jitter, a pulsed fiber laser, with a wavelength of 785 nm, is used which has a pulse width of ~70 ps.…”

Section: Timing Jittermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The PDP is the product of the probability of avalanche by an electron or a hole and the quantum efficiency of the device. The quantum efficiency of this CASPAD is calculated to be 47%, at a wavelength of 785 nm, from the measured responsivity (~0.3 A/W) from our previous work [14]. The low probability of avalanche breakdown by an electron (~12.2% max) for the CASPAD is primarily attributed to the square geometry of the p-n junction, the breakdown occurs at the sharp corners due to high concentration of electric field at sharp edges in a similar way to premature edge breakdown [17,18].…”

Section: Photon Detection Probabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Current-Assisted Single Photon Avalanche Diode (CASPAD) Fabricated in 350 nm Conventional CMOS

2020

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A current-assisted single-photon avalanche diode (CASPAD) is presented with a large and deep absorption volume combined with a small p-n junction in its middle to perform avalanche trigger detection. The absorption volume has a drift field that serves as a guiding mechanism to the photo-generated minority carriers by directing them toward the avalanche breakdown region of the p-n junction. This drift field is created by a majority current distribution in the thick (highly-resistive) epi-layer that is present because of an applied voltage bias between the p-anode of the avalanching region and the perimeter of the detector. A first CASPAD device fabricated in 350-nm CMOS shows functional operation for NIR (785-nm) photons; absorbed in a volume of 40 × 40 × 14 μm3. The CASPAD is characterized for its photon-detection probability (PDP), timing jitter, dark-count rate (DCR), and after pulsing.

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Section: Detector Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Electric Field Simulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Timing Jittermentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Photon Detection Probabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Current-Assisted Single Photon Avalanche Diode (CASPAD) Fabricated in 350 nm Conventional CMOS

2020

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“…This “current-assisted” principle has been used successfully in applications such as time-of-flight (TOF) [ 11 ], fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLI) [ 12 ] and high-speed optical receivers (CAD) [ 13 ]. In the past, we have also demonstrated the current-assisted avalanche photodiodes [ 14 ] and current-assisted SPADs [ 10 ]. In this work, the shortcomings from the previous CA-SPAD device were identified and improved.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Current-Assisted SPAD with Improved p-n Junction and Enhanced NIR Performance

Jegannathan

Dries

Kuijk

2020

Sensors

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Single-photon avalanche diodes (SPADs) fabricated in conventional CMOS processes typically have limited near infra-red (NIR) sensitivity. This is the consequence of isolating the SPADs in a lowly-doped deep N-type well. In this work, we present a second improved version of the “current-assisted” single-photon avalanche diode, fabricated in a conventional 350 nm CMOS process, having good NIR sensitivity owing to 14 μm thick epilayer for photon absorption. The presented device has a photon absorption area of 30 × 30 µm2, with a much smaller central active area for avalanche multiplication. The photo-electrons generated in the absorption area are guided swiftly towards the central area with a drift field created by the “current-assistance” principle. The central active avalanche area has a cylindrical p-n junction as opposed to the square geometry from the previous iteration. The presented device shows improved performance in all aspects, most notably in photon detection probability. The p-n junction capacitance is estimated to be ~1 fF and on-chip passive quenching with source followers is employed to conserve the small capacitance for bringing monitoring signals off-chip. Device physics simulations are presented along with measured dark count rate (DCR), timing jitter, after-pulsing probability (APP) and photon detection probability (PDP). The presented device has a peak PDP of 22.2% at a wavelength of 600 nm and a timing jitter of 220 ps at a wavelength of 750 nm.

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A Near-Infrared Enhanced Field-Line Crowding Based CMOS-Integrated Avalanche Photodiode

et al. 2023

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This paper presents a CMOS-integrated linear-mode avalanche photodiode based on electric field-line crowding (EFLC-APD) to form an effective multiplication zone and a wide absorption zone. The EFLC-APD possesses a hemispherical avalanching electric field at the n-well/p-epi junction formed due to the curvature of the half-sphere cathode. A lower electric field extends radially across the entire volume of the EFLC-APD towards the substrate and towards the surface anode. Because of such a distribution of the electric field, electrons photogenerated within the whole volume drift towards the cathode. Therefore, the EFLC-APD provides a large sensitive-area to total-area ratio while offering high responsivity and bandwidth for red and near-infrared light due to its thick absorption zone and drift-based carrier transport. It is shown that the electric field distribution can be modified by the design parameters such as cathode radius and diode size in addition to doping profiles. The EFLC-APD achieves a responsivitybandwidth (R-BW) product of 49.5 A W •GHz, corresponding to the responsivity and bandwidth of 33 A/W and 1.5 GHz, respectively, at the wavelength of 850 nm. In addition, a maximum responsivity of 3.05 × 10 3 A/W at 2 nW optical power is achieved for the red and near-infrared spectral range. Noise characterization resulted in an excess noise factor F = 6 measured at an avalanche gain of 56.7. Due to the high sensitive-area to total-area ratio, high responsivity, large bandwidth, and CMOS compatibility, this APD is a promising optical detector for many applications.

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Current assisted avalanche photo diodes (CAAPDs) with separate absorption and multiplication region in conventional CMOS

Cited by 7 publications

References 11 publications

Current-Assisted Single Photon Avalanche Diode (CASPAD) Fabricated in 350 nm Conventional CMOS

Current-Assisted Single Photon Avalanche Diode (CASPAD) Fabricated in 350 nm Conventional CMOS

Current-Assisted SPAD with Improved p-n Junction and Enhanced NIR Performance

A Near-Infrared Enhanced Field-Line Crowding Based CMOS-Integrated Avalanche Photodiode

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