多级倍增超晶格InGaAs雪崩光电二级管的增益-噪声特性

重点研究了多级倍增超晶格InGaAs雪崩光电二级管(APD)的增益和过剩噪声,建立了新的载流子增益-过剩噪声模型。在常规弛豫空间理论基础上分析了其工作原理,考虑了预加热电场和能带阶跃带来的初始能量效应、电子进入高场倍增区时异质结边界附近的弛豫空间长度修正以及声子散射对碰撞离化系数的影响,提出了用于指导该类APD的增益-过剩噪声计算的修正弛豫空间理论。结果表明:在相同条件下,相比于常规的单层倍增SAGCM结构,多级倍增超晶格InGaAs APD同时具有更高增益和更低噪声,且修正的弛豫空间理论可被推广到更多级倍增的超晶格InGaAs APD结构,在保证低噪声前提下,通过增加倍增级数可提高增益。     

The determination of impact ionization coefficients in ln0.2Ga0.8As/GaAs strained-layer superlattice mesa photodiodes

Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM 87185 Photocurrent multiplication measurements have been performed on two different In_0.2Gao_0.8As/GaAs strained-layer superlattice (SLS)p ⁺n photodiode structures which are designed to permit simultaneous injection of electrons and holes. Initial devices were found to suffer from low quantum efficiencies produced by small electron diffusion lengths as well as mixed injection caused by lower than expected optical absorption coefficients in the SLSn ⁺ contact layers for hole injection conditions. Using a second device structure having a thicker n⁺ contact region, the electron multiplication factors are found to be larger than that of holes with a ratio of the electron to hole ionization coefficient of 1.4 for fields between 2.9 and 3.4 x 10⁵V/cm.     

Time and frequency response of avalanche photodiodes with arbitrarystructure

A method is developed for solving the coupled transport equations that describe the electron and hole currents in a double-carrier multiplication (DCM) avalanche photodiode (APD) of arbitrary structure. This solution makes it possible to determine the time and frequency response of the device. The injection can be localized to one or both ends of the multiplication region, or distributed throughout an extended region where multiplication can occur concurrently. The results are applied to conventional APDs with position-dependent carrier ionization rates (e.g., a separate-absorption-grading-multiplication APD) as well as to superlattice multiquantum-well (MQW) structures where the ionizations are localized to bandgap transition regions. The analysis may also be used to determine the dark current and include the carrier trapping at the heterojunction interfaces. The results indicate that previous time-dependent theories only account for the tail of the time response under high-gain conditions and are inaccurate for high-speed devices     

Experimental Performance and Monte Carlo Modeling of Long Wavelength Infrared Mercury Cadmium Telluride Avalanche Photodiodes

We evaluated the performance of long-wavelength infrared (LWIR, λ _c = 9.0 μm at 80 K) mercury cadmium telluride electron-injected avalanche photodiodes (e-APDs) in terms of gain, excess noise factor, and dark current, and also spectral and spatial response at zero bias. We found an exponential gain curve up to 23 at 100 K and a low excess noise factor close to unity (F = 1–1.25). These properties are indicative of a single carrier multiplication process, which is electron impact ionization. The dark current is prevailed by a diffusion current at low reverse bias. However, tunneling currents at higher reverse bias limited the usable gain. The measurements of the pixel spatial response showed that the collection width, and, especially, the amplitude of the response peak, increased with temperature. Furthermore, we developed a Monte Carlo model to understand the multiplication process in HgCdTe APDs. The first simulation results corroborated experimental measurements of gain and excess noise factor in mid-wavelength infrared (MWIR, x = 0.3) and LWIR (x = 0.235) e-APDs at 80 K. This model makes it possible for phenomenological studies to be performed to identify the main physical effects and technological parameters that influence the gain and excess noise. The study of the effect of the n ⁻-layer thickness on APD performance demonstrated the existence of an optimum value in terms of gain.     

硅基雪崩光电探测器倍增层掺杂的研究

硅基雪崩光电探测器的器件性能与倍增层的掺杂浓度有着密切联系。研究了硅基雪崩光电探测器倍增层的掺杂浓度对雪崩击穿电压和光谱响应度等特性的影响。在硼的注入剂量由5.0×1012 cm-2减小为2.5×1012cm-2时,倍增层内电场强度逐渐降低,吸收区电场强度迅速增大,器件的雪崩击穿电压由16.3V迅速上升到203V,而光谱响应在95%的击穿电压下,峰值响应波长由480nm红移至800nm,对应的响应度由11.2A/W剧增到372.3A/W。综合考虑光谱响应和雪崩击穿电压的影响,在硼注入剂量为3.5×1012 cm-2时,可获得击穿电压为43.5V和响应度为342.5A/W的器件模型,对实际器件的制备具有一定参考价值。     

Computer studies of the effect of electron and hole current multiplication factors on the d.c. and microwave properties of symmetrical Si DDR IMPATT devices

Computer studies are presented on the effect of carrier current multiplication on the d.c. field and current profiles and the small-signal admittance of a symmetrical Si double-drift region (DDR) IMPATT diode, taking into account the realistic field dependence of ionization rate and drift velocity of charge carriers and also the effect of mobile space-charge. The d.c. field and current profiles indicate that the lowering of the electron current multiplication (M_n) is more effective than the lowering of hole current Multiplication factor (M_p) in modifying the d.c. properties of Si DDR devices. The computer-aided small-signal analysis carried out for the same structure shows that, a lowering of M_n leads to a sharp decrease of the peak value of the small-signal negative conductance at a fixed d.c. current density which is accompanied by a shift of the frequency range of oscillation towards the higher frequency side.     

Current impulse response of thin InP p-i-n diodes

The simulation of current impulse response using random response time model in avalanche photodiode (APD) is presented. A random response time model considers the randomness of times at which the primary and secondary carriers are generated in multiplication region. The dead-space effect is included in our model to demonstrate the impact on current impulse response of thin APDs. Current impulse response of homojunction InP p⁺-i-n⁺ diodes with the multiplication widths of 0.1 and 0.2 μm are calculated. Our results show that dead-space gives a slower decay rate of current impulse response in thin APD, which may degrade the bit-error-rate of the optical communication systems.     

High gain-bandwidth product Ge/Si tunneling avalanche photodiode with high-frequency tunneling effect

This study presents a theoretical investigation of a novel Ge/Si tunneling avalanche photodiode (TAPD) with an ultra-thin barrier layer between the absorption and p⁺ contact layer. A high-frequency tunneling effect is introduced into the structure of the barrier layer to increase the high-frequency response when frequency is larger than 0.1 GHz, and the -3 dB bandwidth of the device increases evidently. The results demonstrate that the avalanche gain and -3 dB bandwidth of the TAPD can be influenced by the thickness and bandgap of the barrier layer. When the barrier thickness is 2 nm and the bandgap is 4.5 eV, the avalanche gain loss is negligible and the gain-bandwidth product of the TAPD is 286 GHz, which is 18% higher than that of an avalanche photodiode without a barrier layer. The total noise in the TAPD was an order of magnitude smaller than that in APD without barrier layer.     

An asymmetric small molecule based on thieno[2,3-f]benzofuran for efficient organic solar cells

A new asymmetric small molecule, named R3T-TBFO, with 4,8-bis(2-ethylhexyloxy)-substituted thieno[2,3-f]benzofuran (TBF) as central donor block, has been synthesized and used as donor material in organic solar cells (OSCs). With thermal annealing (TA) and solvent vapor annealing (SVA) treatment, the blend of R3T-TBFO/PC₇₁BM shows a higher hole mobility of 1.37 × 10⁻⁴ cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ and a more balanced charge mobilities. Using a structure of ITO/PEDOT:PSS/R3T-TBFO:PC₇₁BM/ZrAcac/Al, the device with TA treatment delivered a moderate power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 5.63%, while device after TA + SVA treatment showed a preferable PCE of 6.32% with a high fill factor (FF) of 0.72.     

A Highly Sensitive Multi-element HgCdTe e-APD Detector for IPDA Lidar Applications

An HgCdTe electron avalanche photodiode (e-APD) detector has been developed for lidar receivers, one application of which is integrated path differential absorption lidar measurements of such atmospheric trace gases as CO₂ and CH₄. The HgCdTe APD has a wide, visible to mid-wave-infrared, spectral response, high dynamic range, substantially improved sensitivity, and an expected improvement in operational lifetime. A demonstration sensor-chip assembly consisting of a 4.3 μm cutoff HgCdTe 4 × 4 APD detector array with 80 μm pitch pixels and a custom complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor readout integrated circuit was developed. For one typical array the APD gain was 654 at 12 V with corresponding gain normalized dark currents ranging from 1.2 fA to 3.2 fA. The 4 × 4 detector system was characterized at 77 K with a 1.55 μm wavelength, 1 μs wide, laser pulse. The measured unit gain detector photon conversion efficiency was 91.1%. At 11 V bias the mean measured APD gain at 77 K was 307.8 with σ/mean uniformity of 1.23%. The average, noise-bandwidth normalized, system noise-equivalent power (NEP) was 1.04 fW/Hz^1/2 with a σ/mean of 3.8%. The measured, electronics-limited, bandwidth of 6.8 MHz was more than adequate for 1 μs pulse detection. The system had an NEP (3 MHz) of 0.4 fW/Hz^1/2 at 12 V APD bias and a linear dynamic range close to 1000. A gain-independent quantum-limited SNR of 80% of full theoretical was indicative of a gain-independent excess noise factor very close to 1.0 and the expected APD mode quantum efficiency.     

Theory of VHF detection and frequency multiplication with space-charge-limited current (SCLC) silicon diodes

A non-linear theory of transit-time effects upon VHF detection and frequency multiplication with SCLC silicon diodes, is put forward. Diffusion is neglected and carrier mobility is assumed to be field-independent. The theory applies to the SCLC resistor (n⁺νn⁺ structure) and the punch-through diode (n⁺πn⁺). An analytical theory for relatively small signal-amplitudes is developed. Then, computer calculations yield the frequency and bias dependence of the detected current and the second-harmonic amplitude.It is shown that by properly biasing the n⁺νn⁺ device (the transition region between the ohmic and square-law regions), the detected current is almost frequency-independent up to extremely high frequencies. On the other hand, the transit-time effects upon the detection characteristics of the punch-through diode are by far more important and limit the device usefulness to frequencies below the transit-time frequency. The amplitude of the second harmonic strongly depends upon frequency for both n⁺νn⁺ and n⁺πn⁺ structures.     

Characteristics of three-terminal metal-tunnel if oxide-n/p+ devices

The device described here comprises a p⁺ substrate containing an epitaxial n-layer, on the surface of which is grown a thin (～50 Å) tunnel oxide. A metal cathode is deposited on the oxide surface, and a metal anode on the back side of the p⁺ substrate. A third terminal, the gate electrode, is connected to the n epilayer to provide for biasing the n-p⁺ junction.The I-V characteristic exhibit two stable states: a high-impedance state and a low-impedance state which are separated by a negative-resistance region. The high-impedance state is stable for applied voltages up to the intrinsic threshold voltage, V_s. When the switching voltage is exceeded, the device switches rapidly to the low-impendance state, which is characterized by a current that increases with little increase in the voltage across the device.The switching voltage may be reduced below V_s by current or voltage biasing of the n-p⁺ junction by means of the gate electrode. Gate efficiencies, the ratio of the change in switching voltage with d.c. gate voltage or current, of 10 V/V and 1.0 V/μA have been observed. Pulsed gate measurements are also presented, and it found that for pulse widths down to 0.1 μs the gate switching characteristics follow the d.c. characteristics. For pulse widths less than 0.1 μs the gate efficiencies are degraded. Suggestions for improving the device characteristics and the turn-on and turn-off time of the device and device reliability are discussed.     

Design and analysis of separate-absorption-transport-charge-multiplication traveling-wave avalanche photodetectors

This paper proposes a novel type of avalanche photodiode-the separate-absorption-transport-charge-multiplication (SATCM) avalanche photodiode (APD). The novel design of photoabsorption and multiplication layers of APDs can avoid the photoabsorption layer breakdown and hole-transport problems, exhibit low operation voltage, and achieve ultra-high-gain bandwidth product performances. To achieve low excess noise and ultra-high-speed performance in the fiber communication regime (1.3/spl sim/1.55 /spl mu/m), the simulated APD is Si-based with an SiGe-Si superlattice (SL) as the photoabsorption layer and traveling-wave geometric structures. The frequency response is simulated by means of a photo-distributed current model, which includes all the bandwidth-limiting factors, such as the dispersion of microwave propagation loss, velocity mismatch, boundary reflection, and multiplication/transport of photogenerated carriers. By properly choosing the thicknesses of the transport and multiplication layers, microwave propagation effects in the traveling-wave structure can be minimized without increasing the operation voltage significantly. A near 30-Gb/s electrical bandwidth and 10/spl times/ avalanche gain can be achieved simultaneously, even with a long device absorption length (150 /spl mu/m) and low operation voltage (/spl sim/12 V). In addition, the ultrahigh output saturation power bandwidth product of this simulated TWAPD structure can also be expected due to the large photoabsorption volume and superior microwave-guiding structure.     

Effect of doping concentration on avalanche multiplication and excess noise factor in submicron APD

A realistic full-band Monte Carlo (FBMC) model is applied to study the effect of doping concentration on multiplication gain and excess noise factor for electron- and hole-initiated multiplication in thin InP p⁺–i–n⁺ diodes with a range of multiplication lengths of w = 0.1 and 0.24 μm. This model predicts a reduction in excess noise factor for both electron- and hole-initiated multiplication as the doping concentration increases. Besides dead-space effect and feedback impact ionization, the electric field profile controlled by the doping concentration significantly contributes to the fall of excess noise in submicron InP p⁺–i–n⁺ diodes.     

Effect of structural parameters on InGaAs/InAlAs 2DEG transport characteristics

The effect of structural parameters on the transport characteristics from 15 to 300 K of molecular beam epitaxy-grown InGaAs/InAlAs two dimensional electron gas structures lattice-matched to InP is determined. The InAlAs buffer layer thickness was varied from 1000 to 10,000Å. One sample also incorporated a InGaAs/InAlAs superlattice. The buffer layer thickness and structure had almost no effect on the mobility or sheet density. The InAlAs spacer layer was varied from 25 to 200Å. Increases in the InAlAs spacer thickness resulted in a monotonically decreasing sheet density and a peak in the mobility versus spacer thickness at 100Å. The highest 77 K mobility was 66,700 cm²/V/sds withN _D =1.2×10¹² cm^?2. The effect of illumination and temperature on the sheet concentration in these structures as well as on “bulk” InAlAs:Si was much smaller than in Al _x Ga_1?x As/GaAs structures or “bulk” Al _x Ga_1?x As, forx?0.30, indicating that devices based on this material system will not be characterized by many of the device instabilities observed in the AlGaAs/GaAs system.     

Construction of VS2/VOx Heterostructure via Hydrolysis-Oxidation Coupling Reaction with Superior Sodium Storage Properties

Heterostructure engineering is one of the most promising modification strategies for reinforcing Na⁺ storage of transition metal sulfides. Herein, based on the spontaneous hydrolysis-oxidation coupling reaction of transition metal sulfides in aqueous media, a VO_x layer is induced and formed on the surface of VS₂, realizing tight combination of VS₂ and VO_x at the nanoscale and constructing homologous VS₂/VO_x heterostructure. Benefiting from the built-in electric field at the heterointerfaces, high chemical stability of VO_x, and high electrical conductivity of VS₂, the obtained VS₂/VO_x electrode exhibits superior cycling stability and rate properties. In particular, the VS₂/VO_x anode shows a high capacity of 878.2 mAh g⁻¹ after 200 cycles at 0.2 A g⁻¹. It also exhibits long cycling life (721.6 mAh g⁻¹ capacity retained after 1000 cycles at 2 A g⁻¹) and ultrahigh rate property (up to 654.8 mAh g⁻¹ at 10 A g⁻¹). Density functional theory calculations show that the formation of heterostructures reduces the activation energy for Na⁺ migration and increases the electrical conductivity of the material, which accelerates the ion/electron transfer and improves the reaction kinetics of the VS₂/VO_x electrode.     

Excess noise analysis of separate absorption multiplication regionsuperlattice avalanche photodiodes

The operation of a separate absorption multiplication region avalanche photodiode (SAM-APD) introduces noise as results of randomness in the number and in the position at which dark carrier pairs are generated, randomness in the photon arrival number, randomness in the carrier multiplication, and the number and the position of the photogenerated carriers in the bulk of the diode. The dark current results in a smaller mean multiplication gain in excess noise factor versus mean multiplication plot due to the partial multiplication process of these generated carriers compared to the usual values associated with carriers injected at one edge of the diode. Previous analyses of mean multiplication and excess noise factor for an arbitrary superposition of injected carriers are extended to allow the presence of dark carriers in the multiplication region under the model, which admits variation (with position) of the band-gap, dark generated rate, and ionization coefficients with each stage for the superlattice APD, and the presence of impact ionization in the absorption region. The calculations reveal the presence of impact ionization carriers in the absorption region which results in a larger excess noise factor than the usual values associated with carriers injected at one edge of the device, and fits well with experimental results     

Multiplication-dependent frequency responses of InP/InGaAs avalanche photodiode

The intrinsic response time of InP/InGaAs APD has been reported. The multiplication factor dependent frequency responses were measured up to multiplication factor of 24. The results show the gain bandwidth of InP/InGaAs APDs is 10 GHz, and the intrinsic response time to be 16 ps.     

A model for dark current and multiplication in HgCdTe avalanche photodiodes

In this paper we report the calculated results of the dark current and multiplication factor in MBE grown HgCdTe avalanche photodiodes with separate absorption and multiplication (SAM-APD). The device architecture used for this analysis comprises the following layers: p⁺ contact, p junction, n⁻ multiplication, n charge sheet, n⁻ absorber, and n⁺ contact. Various leakage current mechanisms are considered and the generation-recombination term is found to be the dominant one for this device structure. However, experimental reverse bias I-V characteristics reported earlier by T. de Lyon et al. shows a large deviation from ideality, which can not be explained in terms of bulk leakage current mechanism. To explain the large difference between experimental and theoretical data we consider that the dominant generation-recombination current is multiplied through impact ionization process. To validate this assumption, multiplication is calculated as a function of reverse bias. Electric field profile is obtained and the multiplication is computed using the ionization coefficients and avalanche gain equations. Breakdown voltage is found to be 85 V for room temperature operation in agreement with available data in the literature. The theoretical I-V curves considering multiplication are compared with the experimental ones and a close agreement is found which validate this model.     

Impact of high-k gate dielectric on analog and RF performance of nanoscale DG-MOSFET

Now a days, high-k dielectrics have been investigated as an alternative to Silicon dioxide (SiO₂) based gate dielectric for nanoscale semiconductor devices. This paper is an attempt to characterize the analog and RF performance of the high-k metal gate (HKMG) double gate (DG) metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) in nanoscale through 2-D device simulation. The results demonstrates the impact of high-k oxide layer as single and gate stack (GS). The key idea behind this investigation is to provide a physical explanation for the improved analog and RF performance exhibited by the device. The major figures of merit (FOMs) studied in this paper are transconductance (g_m), output conductance (g_d), transconductance generation factor (g_m/I_D), early voltage (V_EA), intrinsic gain (A_V), cut off frequency (f_T), transconductance frequency product (TFP), gain frequency product (GFP) and gain transconductance frequency product (GTFP). The effects of downscaling of channel length (L) on analog performance of the proposed devices have also been presented. It has been observed that the performance enhancement of GS configurations (k=7.5 i.e device D5 in the study) is encouraging as far as the nanoscale DG-MOSFET is concerned. Also it significantly reduces the short channel effects (SCEs). Parameters like DC gain of (91.257 dB, 43.436 dB), nearly ideal values (39.765 V⁻¹, 39.589 V⁻¹) of TGF, an early voltage of (2.73 V, 16.897 V), cutoff frequency (294 GHz, 515.5 GHz) and GTFP of (5.14×10⁵ GHz/V, 1.72×10⁵ GHz/V) for two different values of V_DS=0.1 V and 0.5 V respectively are found to be close to ideal values. Analysis shows an opportunity for realizing high performance analog and RF circuits with the device proposed in this paper i.e. device D5.