Joe C. Campbell

GaN avalanche photodiodes

We report the electrical and optical characteristics of avalanche photodiodes fabricated in GaN grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. The current–voltage characteristics indicate a multiplication of >25. Experiment indicates and simulation verifies that the magnitude of the electric field at the onset of avalanche gain is ⩾3 MV/cm. Small-area devices exhibit stable gain with no evidence of microplasmas.

Thermal treatment studies of the photoluminescence intensity of porous silicon

Thermal annealing studies of the photoluminescence (PL) intensity and Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy have been performed concurrently on porous Si. A sharp reduction in the PL intensity is observed for annealing temperatures ≳300 °C and this coincides with desorption of hydrogen from the SiH2 surface species. A brief etch in HF can restore the luminescence of the samples annealed below 400 °C. We conclude that SiH2 is essential to the visible luminescence in porous Si.

Correlation between silicon hydride species and the photoluminescence intensity of porous silicon

The role of silicon hydride species in the photoluminescence intensity behavior of porous Si has been studied. The surfaces of luminescent porous Si samples were converted to a predominate SiH termination using a remote H plasma. The as‐passivated samples were then immersed in various concentrations of hydrofluouric solutions to regulate the recovery of SiH2 termination on the surface. Photoluminescence measurements and transmission Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy have shown that predominant silicon monohydride (SiH) termination results in weak photoluminescence. In contrast, it has been observed that the appearance of silicon dihydride (SiH2) coincides with an increase in the photoluminescence intensity.

Microstructured silicon photodetector

Photodetectors fabricated on microstructured silicon are reported. The photodetectors exhibited high photoresponse; at 3V bias, the responsivities were 92A∕W at 850nm and 119A∕W at 960nm. At wavelengths longer than 1.1μm, the photodetectors still showed strong photoresponse. A generation-recombination gain mechanism has been proposed to explain the photoresponse of these photodiodes. From measurements of the noise current density, the calculated gain was approximately 1200 at 3V bias.

High detectivity InAs quantum dot infrared photodetectors

We report a high detectivity of 3×1011 cm Hz1/2/W at 78 K for normal-incidence quantum dot infrared photodetectors with ten layers of undoped InAs/InGaAs/GaAs quantum dot active regions. The high detectivity seen at 1.4 V corresponds to photoresponse peaks at 9.3 and 8.7 μm for positive and negative bias, respectively.

Electrical and optical characterization of Sb : SnO 2

Films of Sb : SnO 2 have been formed by vacuum e -beam evaporation. The structural, electrical, and optical properties of these films have been investigated with respect to annealing time and temperature. After heat treatment in an oxygen atmosphere, thin films with a peak transmittance of 98% and 4–9 × 10 −3 Ωcm resistivity have been obtained. The barrier heights and energy band diagrams of Sb : SnO 2 /Si n-n and p-n heterojunctions have been determined by C-V measurements.

Comprehensive characterization of metal–semiconductor–metal ultraviolet photodetectors fabricated on single-crystal GaN

We report on the material, electrical, and optical properties of metal–semiconductor–metal ultraviolet photodetectors fabricated on single-crystal GaN, with active layers of 1.5 and 4.0 μm thickness. We have modeled current transport in the 1.5 μm devices using thermionic field emission theory, and in the 4.0 μm devices using thermionic emission theory. We have obtained a good fit to the experimental data. Upon repeated field stressing of the 1.5 μm devices, there is a degradation in the current–voltage (I–V) characteristics that is trap related. We hypothesize that traps in the GaN are related to a combination of surface defects (possibly threading dislocations), and deep-level bulk states that are within a tunneling distance of the interface. A simple qualitative model is presented based on experimental results. For devices fabricated on wafers with very low background free electron concentrations, there is a characteristic “punch-through” voltage, which we attribute to the interaction of the depletion ...

Recent Advances in Telecommunications Avalanche Photodiodes

For high-bit-rate long-haul fiber optic communications, the avalanche photodiode (APD) is frequently the photodetector of choice owing to its internal gain, which provides a sensitivity margin relative to PIN photodiodes. APDs can achieve 5-10-dB better sensitivity than PINs, provided that the multiplication noise is low and the gain-bandwidth product is sufficiently high. In the past decade, the performance of APDs for optical fiber communication systems has improved as a result of improvements in materials and the development of advanced device structures. This paper presents a brief review of APD fundamentals and describes some of the significant advances

Demonstration of a 320×256 two-color focal plane array using InAs/InGaAs quantum dots in well detectors

We report the demonstration of a two-color infrared focal plane array based on a voltage-tunable quantum dots-in-well (DWELL) design. The active region consists of multiple layers of InAs quantum dots in an In0.15Ga0.85As quantum well. Spectral response measurements yielded a peak at 5.5μm for lower biases and at 8–10μm for higher biases. Using calibrated blackbody measurements, the midwavelength and long wavelength specific detectivity (D*) were estimated to be 7.1×1010cmHz1∕2∕W(Vb=1.0V) and 2.6×1010cmHz1∕2∕W(Vb=2.6V) at 78 K, respectively. This material was processed into a 320×256 array and integrated with an Indigo 9705 readout chip and thermal imaging was achieved at 80 K.

Resonant-cavity InGaAs-InAlAs avalanche photodiodes with gain-bandwidth product of 290 GHz

We demonstrated a high-speed, resonant-cavity InGaAs-InAlAs separate absorption, charge, and multiplication avalanche photodiode (APD) operating at a wavelength of 1.55 /spl mu/m. Due to the resonant-cavity scheme, these APDs exhibit high external quantum efficiency (/spl sim/70%) and a high unity-gain bandwidth of 24 GHz. Utilizing the excellent noise characteristics of a thin InAlAs multiplication region (k/spl sim/0.18), we have also achieved a gain-bandwidth product of 290 GHz. These bandwidth results are believed to be the highest reported values for APDs operating at 1.55 /spl mu/m.