InGaAs/InP separated absorption and multiplication regions avalanche photodiode using liquid- and vapor-phase epitaxies

Abstract

Heterostructure planar InGaAs/InP avalanche photodiodes, which consist of a vapor-phase epitaxial InP avalanche multiplying layer and a liquid-phase epitaxial In <inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">0.53</inf> Ga <inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">0.47</inf> As optical absorption layer, were fabricated. Dark current, multiplication, spectral response, and pulse response characteristics are reported. Diodes were prepared by InGaAs liquid-phase epitaxy on an InP substrate, followed by InP vapor-phase epitaxy. The vapor-phase epitaxy was adopted in the InP growth to avoid ternary layer melting encountered in the liquid-phase process. Cd diffusion was carried out in the InP layer to form a p-n junction. A uniform multiplication factor of 5.5 was observed without a guard ring. The quantum efficiency was 70 percent in the <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">1-1.6 \mu</tex> m wavelength region without antireflection coating. Dark current density was as low as <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">1.5 \times 10^{-4}</tex> A/cm <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> at 90 percent of breakdown voltage. A fast rise time of 100 ps was observed.