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TCAD analysis on the role of various layers in the improved internal gain of the avalanche photodiode

M. RIZWAN KHAN1, M. FAHAD BHOPAL1, M. ISHFAQ1, J. A. ABBASI1, A. S. BHATTI1,*

Affiliation

  1. Centre for Micro and Nano Devices, Department of Physics, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan

Abstract

State of the art industry standard Technology Computer Aided Design (TCAD) simulation tool was employed to optimize the silicon avalanche photodiode consisting of separate absorption, charge and multiplication layers (SACM-APD). The mobility, impact ionization and generation-recombination physics models were employed in various regions to maximize the performance of the device. The effect of widths of various regions like absorption, charge, and multiplication along with different doping profiles were simulated. It was demonstrated that a compromise was necessary between the widths of different regions to maximize the gain. To calculate the temperature dependence of IV curve, APD was simulated in the temperature range from –40o C to 60o C. The breakdown thermal coefficient was 0.034%/°C. The gain of the device showed more dependence on the electric field generated in the multiplication layer and a maximum gain of 96 with the electric field of 4.1×105 V/cm in the multiplication region was achieved. At that point, the peak optical responsivity of 0.729 A/W was also determined for the device. The present work has successfully demonstrated that there is still a room to fabricate high quality APD by precisely controlling the thicknesses and doping profiles of various layers..

Keywords

SACM-APD, TCAD, Gain.

Submitted at: Dec. 3, 2015
Accepted at: Aug. 3, 2016

Citation

M. RIZWAN KHAN, M. FAHAD BHOPAL, M. ISHFAQ, J. A. ABBASI, A. S. BHATTI, TCAD analysis on the role of various layers in the improved internal gain of the avalanche photodiode, Journal of Optoelectronics and Advanced Materials Vol. 18, Iss. 7-8, pp. 632-638 (2016)