Issue Eur. Phys. J. Appl. Phys. Volume 45, Number 3, March 2009 Article Number 30301 Number of page(s) 5 Section Semiconductors and Devices DOI 10.1051/epjap/2009014 Published online 17 February 2009

Eur. Phys. J. Appl. Phys. 45, 30301 (2009)
DOI: 10.1051/epjap/2009014

Avalanche characteristics of single heterojunction avalanche photodiodes

L.C. Low, A.H. You, L.L.Y. Andy and S.L. Tan

Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Multimedia University, Jln Ayer Keroh Lama, 75450 Melaka, Malaysia

ahyou@mmu.edu.my

Received: 3 August 2008 / Accepted: 8 January 2009 / Published online: 17 February 2009

Abstract
A simple Monte Carlo (MC) model is proposed to study the avalanche characteristics of heterojunction avalanche photodiode (HAPD). This model is capable to simulate the avalanche multiplication and excess noise factor in HAPDs by including the dead-space effect, hole to electron ionization ratio and heterointerface probability. The dead-space effect showed a vital role in reducing noise in single junction HAPDs based on the statistical determination in our model. It is shown that the dead-space effect reduces the avalanche noise in heterojunction device due to the localized ionization events. We found that the dead-space effect and the number of hole feedback impact ionizations are still the dominant effects to improve the excess noise factor especially in the injection layer of the device. In addition, the probability of electron and hole to cross the heterointerface will eliminate the secondary impact ionizations in the device.

PACS
85.30.-z - Semiconductor devices.
85.30.De - Semiconductor-device characterization, design, and modeling.
85.60.Dw - Photodiodes; phototransistors; photoresistors.
02.70.Uu - Applications of Monte Carlo methods.

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