Title :
Study of reverse dark current in 4H-SiC avalanche photodiodes
Author :
Guo, Xiangyi ; Beck, Ariane L. ; Li, Xiaowei ; Campbell, Joe C. ; Emerson, David ; Sumakeris, Joe
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
fDate :
4/1/2005 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
Temperature-dependent current-voltage (I-V) measurements have been used to determine the reverse dark current mechanisms in 4H-SiC avalanche photodiodes (APDs). A pn junction vertical mesa structure, passivated with SiO2 grown by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition, exhibits predominate leakage current along the mesa sidewall. Similar APDs, passivated by thermal oxide, exhibit lower dark current before breakdown; however, when the temperature is higher than 146°C, an anomalous dark current, which increases rapidly with temperature, is observed. This current component appears to be eliminated by the removal of the thermal oxide. Near breakdown, tunneling is the dominant dark current mechanism for these pn devices. APDs fabricated from a pp-n structure show reduced tunneling current. At room temperature, the dark current at 95% of breakdown voltage is 140 fA (1.8 nA/cm2) for a 100-μm diameter APD. At a gain of 1000, the dark current is 35 pA (0.44 μA/cm2).
Keywords :
avalanche photodiodes; dark conductivity; p-n junctions; passivation; plasma CVD; semiconductor growth; silicon compounds; tunnelling; wide band gap semiconductors; 4H-SiC avalanche photodiodes; SiC; leakage current; passivation; plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition; pn junction vertical mesa structure; reverse dark current; tunneling; Avalanche photodiodes; Chemical vapor deposition; Current measurement; Dark current; Electric breakdown; Plasma chemistry; Plasma measurements; Plasma temperature; Temperature measurement; Tunneling; avalanche photodiode (APDs); leakage currents; passivation; tunneling; ultraviolet;
Journal_Title :
Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of
DOI :
10.1109/JQE.2005.843616