Theory of the doped quantum well superlattice APD: A new solid-state photomultiplier

A new superlattice avalanche photodiode structure consisting of repeated unit cells formed from a p-i-n Al0.45Ga0.55As region immediately followed by near intrinsic GaAs and Al0.45Ga0.55As layers is examined using an ensemble Monte Carlo calculation. The effects of various device parameters, such as the high-field layer width, GaAs well width, low-field AlGaAs layer width, and applied electric field on the electron and hole ionization coefficients is analyzed. In addition, the fraction of electrons which ionize in a spatially deterministic way, at the same place in each stage of the device, is determined. As is well known, completely noiseless amplification can be achieved if each electron ionizes in each stage of the device at precisely the same location while no holes ionize anywhere within the device. A comparison is made between the doped quantum well device and other existing superlattice APD's such as the quantum well and staircase APD's. It is seen that the doped quantum well device most nearly approximates photomultiplier-like behavior when applied to the GaAs/AlGaAs material system amongst the three devices. In addition, it is determined that none of the devices, when made from GaAs and AlGaAs, fully mimic ideal photomultiplier-like performance. As the fraction of electron ionizations per stage of the device is increased, through variations in the device geometry and applied electric field, the hole ionization rate invariably increases. It is expected that ideal performance can be more closely achieved in a material system in which the conduction band edge discontinuity is a greater fraction of the band gap energy in the narrow-band gap semiconductor.