Valence band engineering of GaAsBi for low noise avalanche photodiodes

Yuchen Liu; Xin Yi; Nicholas J. Bailey; Zhize Zhou; Thomas B. O. Rockett; Leh W. Lim; Chee H. Tan; Robert D Richards; John P. R. David

doi:10.1038/s41467-021-24966-0

Valence band engineering of GaAsBi for low noise avalanche photodiodes

Yuchen Liu, Xin Yi, Nicholas J. Bailey, Zhize Zhou, Thomas B. O. Rockett, Leh W. Lim, Chee H. Tan, Robert D Richards, John P. R. David

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Abstract

Avalanche Photodiodes (APDs) are key semiconductor components that amplify weak optical signals via the impact ionization process, but this process' stochastic nature introduces 'excess' noise, limiting the useful signal to noise ratio (or sensitivity) that is practically achievable. The APD material's electron and hole ionization coefficients (α and β respectively) are critical parameters in this regard, with very disparate values of α and β necessary to minimize this excess noise. Here, the analysis of thirteen complementary p-i-n/n-i-p diodes shows that alloying GaAs with ≤ 5.1 % Bi dramatically reduces β while leaving α virtually unchanged-enabling a 2 to 100-fold enhancement of the GaAs α/β ratio while extending the wavelength beyond 1.1 µm. Such a dramatic change in only β is unseen in any other dilute alloy and is attributed to the Bi-induced increase of the spin-orbit splitting energy (∆so). Valence band engineering in this way offers an attractive route to enable low noise semiconductor APDs to be developed.

Original language	English
Article number	4784
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	12
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-24966-0
Publication status	Published - 6 Aug 2021

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Chemistry
General Biochemistry,Genetics and Molecular Biology
General Physics and Astronomy

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title = "Valence band engineering of GaAsBi for low noise avalanche photodiodes",

abstract = "Avalanche Photodiodes (APDs) are key semiconductor components that amplify weak optical signals via the impact ionization process, but this process' stochastic nature introduces 'excess' noise, limiting the useful signal to noise ratio (or sensitivity) that is practically achievable. The APD material's electron and hole ionization coefficients (α and β respectively) are critical parameters in this regard, with very disparate values of α and β necessary to minimize this excess noise. Here, the analysis of thirteen complementary p-i-n/n-i-p diodes shows that alloying GaAs with ≤ 5.1 % Bi dramatically reduces β while leaving α virtually unchanged-enabling a 2 to 100-fold enhancement of the GaAs α/β ratio while extending the wavelength beyond 1.1 µm. Such a dramatic change in only β is unseen in any other dilute alloy and is attributed to the Bi-induced increase of the spin-orbit splitting energy (∆so). Valence band engineering in this way offers an attractive route to enable low noise semiconductor APDs to be developed.",

author = "Yuchen Liu and Xin Yi and Bailey, {Nicholas J.} and Zhize Zhou and Rockett, {Thomas B. O.} and Lim, {Leh W.} and Tan, {Chee H.} and Richards, {Robert D} and David, {John P. R.}",

note = "Funding Information: The authors are grateful to S. J. Sweeney (University of Surrey, UK) and C. A. Broderick (University College Cork, Ireland) for fruitful discussions on the band structure modelling, and D. Walker (X-ray Diffraction Research Technology Platform, University of Warwick, UK) for supplementary XRD data and assistance with the interpretation of the XRD results. We also like to acknowledge the assistance of F. Bastiman with the initial growth studies. This work has been supported by a Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellowship Grant (RF1516\15\43) (R.D.R.), EPSRC Grant EP/N020715/1 (C.H.T. and J.P.R.D.), and by an EPSRC Doctoral Training Programme (T.B.O.R. and N.J.B.). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021, The Author(s).",

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AU - Bailey, Nicholas J.

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AU - Rockett, Thomas B. O.

AU - Lim, Leh W.

AU - Tan, Chee H.

AU - Richards, Robert D

AU - David, John P. R.

N1 - Funding Information: The authors are grateful to S. J. Sweeney (University of Surrey, UK) and C. A. Broderick (University College Cork, Ireland) for fruitful discussions on the band structure modelling, and D. Walker (X-ray Diffraction Research Technology Platform, University of Warwick, UK) for supplementary XRD data and assistance with the interpretation of the XRD results. We also like to acknowledge the assistance of F. Bastiman with the initial growth studies. This work has been supported by a Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellowship Grant (RF1516\15\43) (R.D.R.), EPSRC Grant EP/N020715/1 (C.H.T. and J.P.R.D.), and by an EPSRC Doctoral Training Programme (T.B.O.R. and N.J.B.). Publisher Copyright: © 2021, The Author(s).

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N2 - Avalanche Photodiodes (APDs) are key semiconductor components that amplify weak optical signals via the impact ionization process, but this process' stochastic nature introduces 'excess' noise, limiting the useful signal to noise ratio (or sensitivity) that is practically achievable. The APD material's electron and hole ionization coefficients (α and β respectively) are critical parameters in this regard, with very disparate values of α and β necessary to minimize this excess noise. Here, the analysis of thirteen complementary p-i-n/n-i-p diodes shows that alloying GaAs with ≤ 5.1 % Bi dramatically reduces β while leaving α virtually unchanged-enabling a 2 to 100-fold enhancement of the GaAs α/β ratio while extending the wavelength beyond 1.1 µm. Such a dramatic change in only β is unseen in any other dilute alloy and is attributed to the Bi-induced increase of the spin-orbit splitting energy (∆so). Valence band engineering in this way offers an attractive route to enable low noise semiconductor APDs to be developed.

AB - Avalanche Photodiodes (APDs) are key semiconductor components that amplify weak optical signals via the impact ionization process, but this process' stochastic nature introduces 'excess' noise, limiting the useful signal to noise ratio (or sensitivity) that is practically achievable. The APD material's electron and hole ionization coefficients (α and β respectively) are critical parameters in this regard, with very disparate values of α and β necessary to minimize this excess noise. Here, the analysis of thirteen complementary p-i-n/n-i-p diodes shows that alloying GaAs with ≤ 5.1 % Bi dramatically reduces β while leaving α virtually unchanged-enabling a 2 to 100-fold enhancement of the GaAs α/β ratio while extending the wavelength beyond 1.1 µm. Such a dramatic change in only β is unseen in any other dilute alloy and is attributed to the Bi-induced increase of the spin-orbit splitting energy (∆so). Valence band engineering in this way offers an attractive route to enable low noise semiconductor APDs to be developed.

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Valence band engineering of GaAsBi for low noise avalanche photodiodes

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