Extremely low excess noise and high sensitivity AlAs0.56Sb0.44 avalanche photodiodes

Xin Yi; Shiyu Xie; Baolai Liang; Leh W. Lim; Jeng S. Cheong; Mukul C. Debnath; Diana L. Huffaker; Chee H. Tan; John P. R. David

doi:10.1038/s41566-019-0477-4

Extremely low excess noise and high sensitivity AlAs_0.56Sb_0.44 avalanche photodiodes

Xin Yi, Shiyu Xie, Baolai Liang, Leh W. Lim, Jeng S. Cheong, Mukul C. Debnath, Diana L. Huffaker, Chee H. Tan, John P. R. David^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Letter › peer-review

81 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Fast, sensitive avalanche photodiodes (APDs) are required for applications such as high-speed data communications and light detection and ranging (LIDAR) systems. Unfortunately, the InP and InAlAs used as the gain material in these APDs have similar electron and hole impact ionization coefficients (α and β, respectively) at high electric fields, giving rise to relatively high excess noise and limiting their sensitivity and gain bandwidth product¹. Here, we report extremely low excess noise in an AlAs_0.56Sb_0.44 lattice matched to InP. A deduced β/α ratio as low as 0.005 with an avalanche region of 1,550 nm is close to the theoretical minimum and is significantly smaller than that of silicon, with modelling suggesting that vertically illuminated APDs with a sensitivity of −25.7 dBm at a bit error rate of 1 × 10⁻¹² at 25 Gb s⁻¹ and 1,550 nm can be realized. These findings could yield a new breed of high-performance receivers for applications in networking and sensing.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	683-686
Number of pages	4
Journal	Nature Photonics
Volume	13
Issue number	10
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41566-019-0477-4
Publication status	Published - Oct 2019

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics

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title = "Extremely low excess noise and high sensitivity AlAs0.56Sb0.44 avalanche photodiodes",

abstract = "Fast, sensitive avalanche photodiodes (APDs) are required for applications such as high-speed data communications and light detection and ranging (LIDAR) systems. Unfortunately, the InP and InAlAs used as the gain material in these APDs have similar electron and hole impact ionization coefficients (α and β, respectively) at high electric fields, giving rise to relatively high excess noise and limiting their sensitivity and gain bandwidth product1. Here, we report extremely low excess noise in an AlAs0.56Sb0.44 lattice matched to InP. A deduced β/α ratio as low as 0.005 with an avalanche region of 1,550 nm is close to the theoretical minimum and is significantly smaller than that of silicon, with modelling suggesting that vertically illuminated APDs with a sensitivity of −25.7 dBm at a bit error rate of 1 × 10−12 at 25 Gb s−1 and 1,550 nm can be realized. These findings could yield a new breed of high-performance receivers for applications in networking and sensing.",

author = "Xin Yi and Shiyu Xie and Baolai Liang and Lim, {Leh W.} and Cheong, {Jeng S.} and Debnath, {Mukul C.} and Huffaker, {Diana L.} and Tan, {Chee H.} and David, {John P. R.}",

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year = "2019",

month = oct,

doi = "10.1038/s41566-019-0477-4",

language = "English",

volume = "13",

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AU - Yi, Xin

AU - Xie, Shiyu

AU - Liang, Baolai

AU - Lim, Leh W.

AU - Cheong, Jeng S.

AU - Debnath, Mukul C.

AU - Huffaker, Diana L.

AU - Tan, Chee H.

AU - David, John P. R.

PY - 2019/10

Y1 - 2019/10

N2 - Fast, sensitive avalanche photodiodes (APDs) are required for applications such as high-speed data communications and light detection and ranging (LIDAR) systems. Unfortunately, the InP and InAlAs used as the gain material in these APDs have similar electron and hole impact ionization coefficients (α and β, respectively) at high electric fields, giving rise to relatively high excess noise and limiting their sensitivity and gain bandwidth product1. Here, we report extremely low excess noise in an AlAs0.56Sb0.44 lattice matched to InP. A deduced β/α ratio as low as 0.005 with an avalanche region of 1,550 nm is close to the theoretical minimum and is significantly smaller than that of silicon, with modelling suggesting that vertically illuminated APDs with a sensitivity of −25.7 dBm at a bit error rate of 1 × 10−12 at 25 Gb s−1 and 1,550 nm can be realized. These findings could yield a new breed of high-performance receivers for applications in networking and sensing.

AB - Fast, sensitive avalanche photodiodes (APDs) are required for applications such as high-speed data communications and light detection and ranging (LIDAR) systems. Unfortunately, the InP and InAlAs used as the gain material in these APDs have similar electron and hole impact ionization coefficients (α and β, respectively) at high electric fields, giving rise to relatively high excess noise and limiting their sensitivity and gain bandwidth product1. Here, we report extremely low excess noise in an AlAs0.56Sb0.44 lattice matched to InP. A deduced β/α ratio as low as 0.005 with an avalanche region of 1,550 nm is close to the theoretical minimum and is significantly smaller than that of silicon, with modelling suggesting that vertically illuminated APDs with a sensitivity of −25.7 dBm at a bit error rate of 1 × 10−12 at 25 Gb s−1 and 1,550 nm can be realized. These findings could yield a new breed of high-performance receivers for applications in networking and sensing.

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SN - 1749-4885

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JO - Nature Photonics

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Extremely low excess noise and high sensitivity AlAs_0.56Sb_0.44 avalanche photodiodes

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