Ge-on-Si Single-Photon Avalanche Diode Detectors: Design, Modeling, Fabrication, and Characterization at Wavelengths 1310 and 1550 nm

The design, modeling, fabrication, and characterization of single-photon avalanche diode detectors with an epitaxial Ge absorption region grown directly on Si are presented. At 100 K, a single-photon detection efficiency of 4% at 1310 nm wavelength was measured with a dark count rate of ~ 6 megacounts/s, resulting in the lowest reported noise-equivalent power for a Ge-on-Si single-photon avalanche diode detector (1×10-14 WHz-1/2). The first report of 1550 nm wavelength detection efficiency measurements with such a device is presented. A jitter of 300 ps was measured, and preliminary tests on after-pulsing showed only a small increase (a factor of 2) in the normalized dark count rate when the gating frequency was increased from 1 kHz to 1 MHz. These initial results suggest that optimized devices integrated on Si substrates could potentially provide performance comparable to or better than that of many commercially available discrete technologies.

[1]  G. Buller,et al.  Design and performance of an InGaAs-InP single-photon avalanche diode detector , 2006, IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics.

[2]  Xudong Jiang,et al.  An ultra low noise telecom wavelength free running single photon detector using negative feedback avalanche diode. , 2012, The Review of scientific instruments.

[3]  A. W. Sharpe,et al.  High speed single photon detection in the near-infrared , 2007, 0707.4307.

[4]  Edoardo Charbon,et al.  A Ge-on-Si single-photon avalanche diode operating in Geiger mode at infrared wavelengths , 2012, Defense, Security, and Sensing.

[5]  A. Lacaita,et al.  Probe-device detecting single carriers: A new method for deep level characterization with nanosecond resolution , 1985, 1985 International Electron Devices Meeting.

[6]  Daisuke Sakaizawa,et al.  Development of a 1.6 microm differential absorption lidar with a quasi-phase-matching optical parametric oscillator and photon-counting detector for the vertical CO2 profile. , 2009, Applied optics.

[7]  Gerald S. Buller,et al.  Free-running, room temperature operation of an InGaAs/InP single-photon avalanche diode , 2009 .

[8]  M. Ghioni,et al.  Avalanche diodes and circuits for infrared photon counting and timing: retrospect and prospect , 2006, 2006 Digest of the LEOS Summer Topical Meetings.

[9]  Aongus McCarthy,et al.  Subcentimeter depth resolution using a single-photon counting time-of-flight laser ranging system at 1550 nm wavelength. , 2007, Optics letters.

[10]  J. Bowers,et al.  Monolithic germanium/silicon avalanche photodiodes with 340 GHz gain-bandwidth product , 2009 .

[11]  A. Lacaita,et al.  Time-resolved photoluminescence measurements of InGaAs/ InP multiple-quantum-well structures at 1.3-µm wavelengths by use of germanium single-photon avalanche photodiodes. , 1996, Applied optics.

[12]  A. P. Knights,et al.  The evolution of silicon photonics as an enabling technology for optical interconnection , 2012 .

[13]  Franco Zappa,et al.  Evolution and prospects for single-photon avalanche diodes and quenching circuits , 2004 .

[14]  F Zappa,et al.  Single-photon detection beyond 1 µm: performance of commercially available InGaAs/lnP detectors. , 1996, Applied optics.

[15]  R. Newman,et al.  Intrinsic Optical Absorption in Single-Crystal Germanium and Silicon at 77°K and 300°K , 1955 .

[16]  M. Myronov,et al.  Ohmic contacts to n-type germanium with low specific contact resistivity , 2012 .

[17]  S. Inoue,et al.  Ultra-Low-Noise Sinusoidally Gated Avalanche Photodiode for High-Speed Single-Photon Detection at Telecommunication Wavelengths , 2010, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[18]  J. Rarity,et al.  Photonic quantum technologies , 2009, 1003.3928.

[19]  Giovanni Isella,et al.  Ultralow dark current Ge/Si(100) photodiodes with low thermal budget , 2009 .

[20]  A. Walker,et al.  Performance and design of InGaAs /InP photodiodes for single-photon counting at 1.55 microm. , 2000, Applied optics.

[21]  J. Wang,et al.  Dark-Current Suppression in Metal–Germanium–Metal Photodetectors Through Dopant-Segregation in NiGe—Schottky Barrier , 2008, IEEE Electron Device Letters.

[22]  Douglas J. Paul,et al.  Nanofabrication of high aspect ratio (∼50:1) sub-10 nm silicon nanowires using inductively coupled plasma etching , 2012 .

[23]  O. Okunev,et al.  Picosecond superconducting single-photon optical detector , 2001 .

[24]  G. Buller,et al.  Semiconductor Avalanche Diode Detectors for Quantum Cryptography , 2006 .

[25]  Alberto Tosi,et al.  Germanium and InGaAs/InP SPADs for single-photon detection in the near-infrared , 2007, SPIE Optics East.

[26]  J. Hoyt,et al.  Characterization of dark current in Ge-on-Si photodiodes , 2012 .

[27]  Qiugui Zhou,et al.  Geiger-Mode Operation of Ge-on-Si Avalanche Photodiodes , 2011, IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics.

[28]  J. Rarity,et al.  Enhancement of the infrared detection efficiency of silicon photon-counting avalanche photodiodes by use of silicon germanium absorbing layers. , 2002, Optics letters.

[29]  Effect of layer thickness on structural quality of Ge epilayers grown directly on Si(001) , 2011 .

[30]  F Zappa,et al.  Single-photon detection beyond 1 µm: performance of commercially available germanium photodiodes. , 1994, Applied optics.

[31]  Sae Woo Nam,et al.  Quantum key distribution over a 40-dB channel loss using superconducting single-photon detectors , 2007, 0706.0397.

[32]  A. Lacaita,et al.  Avalanche photodiodes and quenching circuits for single-photon detection. , 1996, Applied optics.