Unipolar carrier multiplication high-gain and low-noise AlGaN ultraviolet avalanche photodiode with periodically stacked structure

Abstract

Abstract Highly sensitive avalanche photodetector (APD) has become a promising candidate for detecting extremely weak target signals. However, the impact ionization multiplication simultaneously triggered by electrons and holes will lead to large excess noise, thus significantly influencing device avalanche performance. Herein, we propose a distinctive AlGaN-based ultraviolet avalanche photodiode with AlN/Al0.2Ga0.8N periodically stacked multiplication region. The higher effective masses and density of states in valence band renders holes limited in the quantum-well region, where thermalization plays a dominant role during carrier transport process. On the contrary, in the atomic-scale AlN/AlGaN stacked structure with a periodic thickness of 10 nm, the electron mutualization motion is conductive to electron obtaining sufficient energy to induce impact ionization. Hence, the mechanism of unipolar carrier induced avalanche multiplication effectively reduces device noise and improving multiplication gain. Meanwhile, the high electric field intensity and tilted energy band in the AlGaN/AlN periodically stacked region significantly contribute to the carrier impact ionization. Consequently, the device achieves a superior avalanche gain of more than 105 at 74 V reverse bias. It is envisioned that the unipolar carrier triggering avalanche events offers a viable route to build high-performance APDs.