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Fabrication and Measurement of 4H-Silicon Carbide Avalanche Photodiodes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2011

Kent Burr ,
Peter Sandvik ,
Stephen Arthur ,
Dale Brown  and
Kevin Matocha
Kent Burr
Affiliation:
General Electric Global Research Center, Niskayuna, NY 12309, U.S.A.
Peter Sandvik
Affiliation:
General Electric Global Research Center, Niskayuna, NY 12309, U.S.A.
Stephen Arthur
Affiliation:
General Electric Global Research Center, Niskayuna, NY 12309, U.S.A.
Dale Brown
Affiliation:
General Electric Global Research Center, Niskayuna, NY 12309, U.S.A.
Kevin Matocha
Affiliation:
General Electric Global Research Center, Niskayuna, NY 12309, U.S.A.
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Abstract

Avalanche photodiodes (APDs) that are sensitive in the ultraviolet (UV) from approximately 250 – 350 nm have been fabricated from 4H-SiC. The SiC APDs, which use hole-initiated avalanche multiplication, were produced using n-type SiC epitaxial layers grown on a p-type substrate. In order to achieve avalanche breakdown in the bulk of the material, a dry ion-based etching technique was used to form sloped sidewalls on the devices. The devices had an area of approximately 1 mm2, and they had maximum breakdown voltages of approximately 500 V. The APDs had a positive temperature coefficient for avalanche breakdown voltage and showed excellent stability for multiplication factors in excess of several hundred. Dark current, photo responsivity, and multiplication measurements from room temperature to 150°C will be presented. The dark noise performance of the APDs has also been characterized using a standard nuclear spectroscopy system consisting of a charge sensitive preamplifier, a shaping amplifier, and a multichannel analyzer. The input equivalent dark noise charge and excess noise factor for the dark current was measured over a range of shaping times, temperatures, and bias voltages. The noise performance of SiC APDs in applications such as gamma ray or x-ray spectroscopy will be highly dependent on the achievement of low bulk leakage current at the operating point. Here, an ionization coefficient ratio (k=α/β) of 0.078 was found.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 742: Symposium K – Silicon Carbide-Materials, Processing, and Devices , 2002 , K7.8
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2003

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References

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