Experimental study demonstrates over 90% avalanche breakdown probability in AlInAsSb/InGaAs diodes at 1550 nm, indicating a path toward near-unity photon detection efficiency.
A key characteristic of single-photon avalanche diodes (SPADs) is the photon detection efficiency (PDE), which can be expressed as PDE = η × Pav, where η is the external quantum efficiency and Pav is the avalanche breakdown probability. InGaAs/InP SPADs are widely used for single-photon counting in the short-wavelength infrared. However, their PDE remains moderate because the InP multiplier has a relatively high k value (the ratio of the hole to electron ionization coefficients), which limits Pav. A high Pav is essential for achieving SPADs with near-unity PDE. The very low k values of Sb-based APDs enable higher Pav than those of InGaAs/InP SPADs. We report AlInAsSb/InGaAs SPADs on InP operating at 1550 nm, with Pav values greater than 90% at an over-bias of less than 6%.
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Circir et al. (2026) studied this question.
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