Reliability of planar InP-InGaAs avalanche photodiodes with recess etching

This letter presents the reliability of planar InP-InGaAs avalanche photodiodes (APDs) with recess etching, which is very crucial for the commercial 10-Gb/s optical receiver application. The reliability is examined by accelerated life tests by monitoring dark current and breakdown voltage. The activation energy of the degradation mechanism and device median lifetime were estimated. Based on the test results, it is concluded that the planar InP-InGaAs APDs with recess etching shows the sufficient reliability for practical 10-Gb/s optical receivers.