High signal-to-noise ratio avalanche photodiodes with perimeter field gate and active readout

High signal-to-noise ratio avalanche photodiodes with perimeter field gate and active readout

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M. Dandin and P. Abshire, “High signal-to-noise ratio avalanche photodiodes with perimeter field gate and active readout,” IEEE Electron Device Lett., vol. 33, no. 4, pp. 570–572, Apr. 2012. [Online Article]
High signal-to-noise ratio avalanche photodiodes with perimeter field gate and active readout

This letter describes an avalanche photodiode (APD) fabricated in a 0.5-µm CMOS process. In Geiger mode, the APD had an area-normalized dark count rate as low as 2 Hz/µm2 at room temperature. Its signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) increased by an order of magnitude as a result of perimeter field gating. We demonstrate that under high-illumination conditions, perimeter field gating maximizes SNR, whereas under low-light conditions, it maximizes sensitivity.