Modeling novel radiation hardened avalanche photodiode architectures

Caroline D. Tally; Abigail S. Licht; Denis Nothern; Christopher O'Connell; Michael Myszka; Joseph Donnelly; Alex McIntosh; Christopher Heidelberger; Erik Duerr

doi:10.1117/12.2676426

10 October 2023 Modeling novel radiation hardened avalanche photodiode architectures

Caroline D. Tally, Abigail S. Licht, Denis Nothern, Christopher O'Connell, Michael Myszka, Joseph Donnelly, Alex McIntosh, Christopher Heidelberger, Erik Duerr

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 12687, Infrared Sensors, Devices, and Applications XIII; 126870C (2023) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2676426
Event: SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, 2023, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Geiger mode avalanche photodiodes (GmAPDs) are a core component in optical communications, quantum computing, and lidar applications. However, for space-based applications, indium phosphide (InP) based APDs operating in the infrared (IR) suffer from accelerated radiation-induced performance degradation. Specifically, displacement damage induces defects in the APD material which deteriorate the electrical performance of the device (increased dark count rate (DCR)), limiting operability and lifetime. The amount of APD radiation damage scales with the volume of the avalanche region. The current approach to reducing the displacement damage in APD architectures is to shrink the entire APD diameter. However, this technique also shrinks the photo-active volume of the device, which imposes additional challenges for light absorption. In this paper, we examine candidate architectures to shrink the volume of the avalanche region while maintaining the absorber region. Using ATHENA and ATLAS software packages in Silvaco, we investigate several designs with varying sidewall etch profiles. We examine the change in electric field distribution and probability of avalanche, using these results to select candidate architectures for radiation-hardened APDs.

Conference Presentation

(2023) Published by SPIE. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

Citation Download Citation

Caroline D. Tally, Abigail S. Licht, Denis Nothern, Christopher O'Connell, Michael Myszka, Joseph Donnelly, Alex McIntosh, Christopher Heidelberger, and Erik Duerr "Modeling novel radiation hardened avalanche photodiode architectures", Proc. SPIE 12687, Infrared Sensors, Devices, and Applications XIII, 126870C (10 October 2023); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2676426

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