Multiplication characteristics of Al0.4Ga0.07In0.53As avalanche photodiodes grown as digital alloys on InP substrates

Abstract

Avalanche photodiodes (APDs) are used in short- and mid-wave infrared applications such as optical communication, LIDAR and 3D imaging [1] due to their internal gain, which improves the signal to noise ratio (SNR). However, the multiplication gain ( M ) gives rise to excess noise, caused by the stochastic nature of impact ionization, which can significantly degrade the SNR of APDs. The excess noise is quantitatively measured by excess noise factor, F(M) that is expressed by McIntyre’s local field theory [1] , F(M) = kM + (1-k)[2-(1/M)] where k is the ratio of the impact ionization coefficients for electrons and holes. According to the equation above, the low excess noise factor in APDs can be attained by a low k value.