Modeling Temperature-Dependent Avalanche Characteristics of InP

Abstract

Avalanche photodiodes (APDs), and single photon avalanche diodes (SPADs), with InP avalanche regions and In-GaAs absorption regions, are used for detecting weak infrared light at ∼1.55 µm wavelength. These devices are often cooled to below room temperature during operation yet both validated simulation models and impact ionization coefficients that accurately describe the avalanche characteristics of InP are lacking in the temperature range of interest (200 K to room temperature). In this article we present an accessible, validated temperature dependent simulation model for InP APDs/SPADs. The model is capable of simulating avalanche gain, excess noise, breakdown voltage, and impulse current at 150-300 K. Temperature dependent ionization coefficients in InP, which may be used with other APD/SPAD simulation models, are also presented. The data reported in this article is available from the ORDA digital repository

An efficient modeling workflow for high-performance nanowire single-photon avalanche detector

“…To accelerate the time-dependent DD simulation, we include only the most essential physics relevant to avalanche SPAD devices: for carrier recombination, the standard Shockley-Read-Hall model is applied [39]; for carrier generation, impact ionization and optical generation are considered. In particular, we adopt the ionization coefficient model proposed in [53] based on Monte Carlo simulations, verified by experimental data for temperatures ranging from 150 to 290 K. For the light generation model, for simplicity, we assumed a laser source with single-photon level power that gives a spatially uniform carrier generation rate inside the NW, as the light signal used in this work is mainly for computing timing jitter. Optical simulation (e.g.…”

“…Dark count rate (DCR) and photon detection efficiency (PDE) are calculated via post-processing routines, both of which rely on the electric field extracted from time-dependent DD simulations. The electric field as a function of external biases is used to compute impact ionization coefficients α e and α h for electrons and holes, respectively, defined in [53], which strongly depend on the spatial distribution of the local electric field. These coefficients play a crucial role in determining the avalanche triggering probability (ATP), which characterizes the probability of generated electron-hole pair successfully triggering a self-sustaining avalanche, and is thus needed for calculating DCR and PDE.…”