Failure mode analysis of planar zinc‐diffused In0.53Ga0.47As p‐i‐n photodiodes

In order to understand the irreversible failure mechanisms of planar InGaAs p‐i‐n photodiodes, 32 devices from 19 different wafers that shorted during aging were first examined in the scanning electron microscope. Included were devices that failed during long term aging (>103 h) as well as those that failed during short term aging (<102 h) at higher reverse bias. With a few exceptions, the diodes failed as a result of a single localized leakage source located at the perimeter of the p‐n junction. Three types of leakage sources were found: (a) a microplasma, (b) a microplasma associated with a region of high recombination rate, and (c) a microplasma associated with a thermally damaged region. Analysis of ∼40 devices before and after aging shows that leakage paths found after aging result from microplasmas initially present in the device. Defect analysis shows that neither threading dislocations nor misfit dislocations are generally responsible for these microplasmas. Analysis of the processing shows that t...

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