Metamorphic avalanche photodetector

US7326970B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• The Boeing Company · US

Inventors

• Geoffrey S. Kinsey · Pasadena, US
• Dmitri D. Krut · Calabasas, US
• Joseph C. Boisvert · Thousand Oaks, US
• Christopher M. Fetzer · Valencia, US
• Richard R. King · Thousand Oaks, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Mar 11, 2005
• Grant date: Feb 5, 2008
• Expiry date: May 12, 2025

Classification

• Technology area (CPC H): Electricity
• CPC primary: H10F77/1248

Abstract

A metamorphic avalanche photodetector includes a substrate, and an active structure supported on the substrate. The active structure has a metamorphic absorption structure that absorbs light and responsively produces primary charge carriers, and an avalanche multiplication structure that receives the primary charge carriers from the metamorphic absorption structure and responsively produces secondary charge carriers. An output electrical contact is in electrical communication with the active structure to collect at least some of the secondary charge carriers. A buffer layer lies between the substrate and the active structure, between the active structure and the output electrical contact, or between the metamorphic absorption structure and the avalanche multiplication structure. A lattice parameter of the buffer layer varies with position through a thickness of the buffer layer.