Trench

Single-photon avalanche diode

Avalanche diode

Detector

Voltage

Engineering

Biology

Isolation (microbiology)

Shallow trench isolation

Materials science

Layer (electronics)

Breakdown voltage

Diode

Avalanche photodiode

Laser

Physics

Nanotechnology

Optics

Avalanche breakdown

Microbiology

Optoelectronics

Electrical engineering

IEEE Electron Device Letters

We present a novel design of fine segmented low gain avalanchediodes ('GAD) based on trench-isolation technique. The proposed design reduces the width of the no-gain inter-pad region down to less than 10 μm, from the 20-80 μm of the current 'GAD technology, enabling the production of sensors with small pixel pitch and high fill-factor. Prototypes of this new technologywere produced in the FBK laboratories. Their electrical characterization in terms of I-V, gain measurement and response to a focused laser, indicates that the trenches provide electrical isolation among pixels without any increase in the dark current level and without affecting the gain of the sensor. In addition, I-V measurements of p-i-n diodes with the same trench-isolation structure demonstrate that such termination scheme can withstand more than 500 Volts without reaching breakdown. This is well above the typical operating bias voltage of 'GADs, thus confirming that trench-isolation is a promising solution for finely pixelated 'GAD sensors.

Trench-Isolated Low Gain Avalanche Diodes (TI-LGADs)