A PMT-like high gain avalanche photodiode based on GaN/AlN periodically stacked structure

Avalanche photodiode (APD) has been intensively investigated as a promising candidate to replace the bulky and fragile photomultiplier tube (PMT) for weak light detection. However, the performance of most available APDs is barely satisfactory compared to that of the PMTs because of inter-valley scattering. Here, we demonstrate a PMT-like APD based on GaN/AlN periodically stacked-structure (PSS), in which the electrons encounter a much less inter-valley scattering during transport than holes. Uni-directional avalanche takes place with a high efficiency. According to our simulations based on a PSS with GaN (10 nm)/AlN (10 nm) in each period, the probability for electrons to trigger ionization in each cycle can reach as high as 80%, while that for holes is only 4%. A record high and stable gain (104) with a low ionization coefficient ratio of 0.05 is demonstrated under a constant bias in a prototype device.

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