Avalanche photodiode

Physics

Dark current

APDS

Infrasound

Indium gallium arsenide

Impact ionization

Gallium arsenide

Noise (video)

Image (mathematics)

Optics

Absorption (acoustics)

Artificial intelligence

Single-photon avalanche diode

Acoustics

Materials science

Ionization

Photodetector

Indium phosphide

Computer science

Quantum mechanics

Photodiode

Optoelectronics

Detector

Applied Physics Letters

We report the gain, noise, and dark current characteristics of random alloy Al0.79In0.21As0.74Sb0.26 (hereafter AlInAsSb)-based avalanche photodiodes (APDs) on InP substrates. We observe, at room temperature, a low excess noise corresponding to a k value (ratio of impact ionization coefficients) of 0.018 and a dark current density of 82 μA/cm2 with a gain of 15. These performance metrics represent an order of magnitude improvement of the k-value over commercially available APDs with InAlAs and InP multiplication layers grown on InP substrates. This material is also competitive with a recently reported low noise AlAsSb on InP [Yi et al., Nat. Photonics 13, 683 (2019)], with a comparable excess noise and a room temperature dark current density almost three orders of magnitude lower at the same gain. The low excess noise and dark current of AlInAsSb make it a candidate multiplication layer for integration into a separate absorption, charge, and multiplication layer avalanche photodiode for visible to short-wavelength infrared applications.

AlInAsSb avalanche photodiodes on InP substrates