Method of making avalanche photodiode
US4876209A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | May 12, 1989 |
| Grant date | Oct 24, 1989 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 12, 2009 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S148/07
Abstract
The disclosed invention as directed to a semiconductor material avalanche photodiode of a separate multiplication and absorption region heterostructure design (SAM-APD). The improved SAM-APD of this invention is characterized by a plurality of floating guard rings which are separated about a central region and doped in the opposite high concentration from that of the multiplication region in which they are positioned. These rings float in the sense that they have no contact with the metalized p-contact of the photodiode; and, therefore, no direct contact with the current source. This structure results in an enhanced avalanche effect in the central region with limited edge breakdown undesirable consequences. In addition to this structure, an alternative embodiment suggest the use of both a floating ring and thin slab below the central region, of a dimension slightly smaller than the smaller region and concentric with it to achieve an optimized central avalanche breakdown with reducd edge breakdown of the electric fields formed during reversed biasing of the APD (avalanche photodiode).
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.