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At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Counting multiple X-rays per pulse with an avalanche photodiode detector

Avalanche photodiode detectors (APDs) at X-ray synchrotrons are typically limited to recording at most one photon per synchrotron pulse. Digitizing the APD amplifier outputs enables signal processing to accurately measure a mean count rate of at least four photons per pulse based on initial synchrotron measurements. Higher rates are readily achievable. This method allows APDs to be utilized for time-resolved measurements at much higher intensities than before.

Powers, Liam T. (ORCID:000900047481248X)↗
DOE OSTI2021

The Effect of Radiation Damage on the Charge Collection Efficiency of Silicon Avalanche Photodiodes

Understanding radiation effects on avalanche photodiodes (APDs) is important because they are used in several applications involving harsh radiation environments. APDs are used as photosensors in applications where speed and detection efficiency are critical. Proton irradiation experiments on a commercial off-the-shelf APD demonstrated that the irradiation flux and applied reverse bias have a strong influence on the severity of radiation effects. This is measured using the ion beam induced charge (IBIC) technique in which charge collection efficiency (CCE) describes the signal response from a device. CCE can degrade substantially due to radiation damage, but recent measurements show that certain combinations of irradiation flux and reverse bias can lead to increases in CCE up to 186% ± 24% for irradiations with 2 MeV protons at a fluence of 6.4 × 10 11 cm –2 . This defect-enhanced charge multiplication (DECM) only appeared when the reverse bias during irradiation ranged from 170 to 1830 V out of a maximum operating bias of 2000 V and the proton flux ranged from 9.8 × 10 7 to 3.4 × 10 9 cm –2 s –1 . Furthermore values outside of either range led to losses in CCE. It is expected that DECM should be encountered in other devices, especially those with sufficiently high electric fields to cause impact ionization.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Ion-implanted Al0.6Ga0.4N deep-ultraviolet avalanche photodiodes

A deep-ultraviolet Al0.6Ga0.4N p–i–n avalanche photodiode (APD) structure was grown on a (0001) AlN bulk substrate by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. The wafer was fabricated into 20 μm diameter mesa APD devices both with and without ion-implantation with nitrogen ions on the periphery of the p-type region of the diode mesa and tested. The dark current density vs bias, photoresponse, and the optical gain of the APDs with and without ion implantation were compared. The devices fabricated with ion implantation showed improved performance, exhibiting lower dark current densities of ∼1 × 10−9 A/cm2 and a higher optical gain of ∼5.2 × 105 at a current density limit of 0.3 A/cm2. The average temperature coefficients of the reverse-bias breakdown voltage were also compared. Although the data showed negative coefficients for APDs fabricated both with and without ion implantation, the ion-implanted APDs showed an improvement relative to the devices fabricated without ion-implantation.

Physics↗
DOE OSTI2021

Bias-dependent displacement damage effects in a silicon avalanche photodiode

Radiation effects studies on a commercial beveled-edge avalanche photodiode (APD) showed that applying reverse bias to the device during irradiation enhanced the severity of apparent damage. Proton microbeam irradiations were made using a proton beam energy of 2 MeV and fluence ranging from 2.0 × 10 10 to 5.1 × 10 12 cm -2 . Charge collection measurements using the ion beam induced charge (IBIC) technique showed that relative losses increased by up to an order of magnitude when the reverse bias applied during irradiation increased from 50 to 1500 V. The presence of reverse bias also led to equivalent losses in charge collection that would only be seen in irradiations with an order of magnitude higher fluence in unbiased APDs. The results demonstrate that bias-enhanced irradiation damage is insufficiently understood and must be accounted for in characterizations of radiation effects.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2022

Avalanche photodiode and an optical receiver having the same

Examples described herein relate to an avalanche photodiode (APD) and an optical receiver including the APD. The APD may include a substrate and a photon absorption region disposed on the substrate. The substrate may include a charge carrier acceleration region under the photon absorption region; a charge region adjacent to the charge carrier acceleration region; and a charge carrier multiplication region adjacent to the charge region. The charge carrier acceleration region, the charge region, and the charge carrier multiplication region are laterally formed in the substrate. When a biasing voltage is applied to the optoelectronic device, photon-generated free charge carriers may be generated in the photon absorption region and are diffused into the charge carrier acceleration region. The charge carrier acceleration region is configured to accelerate the photon-generated free charge carriers prior to the photon-generated free charge carriers entering into the charge region and undergoing impact ionization in the charge carrier multiplication region.

Yuan, Yuan↗
DOE OSTI2021

32 Gbps heterogeneously integrated quantum dot waveguide avalanche photodiodes on silicon

We report a heterogeneous GaAs-based quantum dot (QD) avalanche photodiode (APD) on silicon with an ultralow dark current of 10 pA at − <#comment/> 1 V , 3 dB bandwidth of 20 GHz and record gain-bandwidth product (GBP) of 585 GHz. Furthermore, open eye diagrams up to 32 Gb/s are demonstrated at 1310 nm. The k-factor has been measured for these devices to be as low as 0.14. A polarization dependence on gain and bandwidth has been observed and investigated. This shows the potential to integrate a high-speed receiver in a wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) system on a QD-based silicon photonics platform.

Tossoun, Bassem↗
DOE OSTI2023

A novel integrated time-resolved array avalanche photodiode detection system for nuclear resonant scattering measurements

Here, the nuclear resonant scattering (NRS) experiment requires photon-counting detectors with high time resolution, short dead time, large dynamic range, low noise, and large detection area. An 8-channel avalanche photodiode (APD) array detector system with high integrity, flexibility, and reliability has been developed to adapt to the demands of NRS experiments. The detector system mainly consists of four key parts: (i) an array-APD sensor, (ii) 8-channel integrated fast preamplifiers, (iii) the time-to-digital converter readout electronics, and (iv) a data acquisition system and EPICS support software. Remarkably, the system exhibits a time resolution of better than 500 ps and has a sufficiently low noise level, allowing for the lowest detection energy threshold of 4 keV. The performance of the new array-APD system as well as its real application in nuclear forward scattering (NFS) and nuclear resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (NRIXS) experiments was tested in two synchrotron facilities. With the new system, the NFS signal very close to the prompt electronic scattering signal can be extracted. Thanks to the customized EPICS-areaDetector-based control software, NRIXS spectra can be readily measured with time and energy information of the NRIXS signal stored in the raw data, which is promising for developing NRIXS data analysis in the time domain. The array-APD detector can be deployed for nuclear resonant scattering experiments at various synchrotron radiation facilities.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2022

Breakdown characteristics of deep-ultraviolet Al 0.6 Ga 0.4 N p-i-n avalanche photodiodes

A top-illuminated deep-ultraviolet Al 0.6 Ga 0.4 N p-i-n avalanche photodiode (APD) structure was designed and grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition on an AlN bulk substrate and on two different quality AlN/sapphire templates, and APDs were fabricated and tested. The APD devices with a circular diameter of 20 μm have demonstrated a distinctive reverse-bias breakdown behavior. The reverse breakdown voltage of the APDs is approximately -140 V, which corresponds to a breakdown electric field of 6–6.2 MV/cm for the Al 0.6 Ga 0.4 N material as estimated by Silvaco TCAD simulation. The APDs grown on the AlN bulk substrate show the lowest leakage current density of < 1 × 10 -8 A/cm 2 (at low reverse bias) compared to that of the devices grown on the AlN templates. From the photocurrent measurement, a maximum gain (current limited) of 1.2 × 10 4 is calculated. The average temperature coefficients of the breakdown voltage are negative for APD devices fabricated from both the AlN bulk substrate and the AlN templates, but these data show that the coefficient is the least negative for the APD devices grown on the low-dislocation-density AlN bulk substrate.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2020

High gain, large area, and solar blind avalanche photodiodes based on Al-rich AlGaN grown on AlN substrates

We demonstrate large area (25 000 μm2) Al-rich AlGaN-based avalanche photodiodes (APDs) grown on single crystal AlN substrates operating with differential (the difference in photocurrent and dark current) signal gain of 100 000 at 90 pW (<1 μW cm−2) illumination with very low dark currents <0.1 pA at room temperature under ambient light. The high gain in large area AlGaN APDs is attributed to a high breakdown voltage at 340 V, corresponding to very high breakdown fields ∼9 MV cm−1 as a consequence of low threading and screw dislocation densities < 103 cm−2. The maximum charge collection efficiency of 30% was determined at 255 nm, corresponding to the bandgap of Al0.65Ga0.35N, with a response of 0.06 A/W. No response was detected for λ > 280 nm, establishing solar blindness of the device.

Reddy, Pramod (ORCID:0000000285561178)↗
DOE OSTI2022

High-Fidelity Ion State Detection Using Trap-Integrated Avalanche Photodiodes

Integrated technologies greatly enhance the prospects for practical quantum information processing and sensing devices based on trapped ions. High-speed and high-fidelity ion state readout is critical for any such application. Integrated detectors offer significant advantages for system portability and can also greatly facilitate parallel operations if a separate detector can be incorporated at each ion-trapping location. Here, we demonstrate ion quantum state detection at room temperature utilizing single-photon avalanche diodes (SPADs) integrated directly into the substrate of silicon ion trapping chips. Furthermore, we detect the state of a trapped Sr + ion via fluorescence collection with the SPAD, achieving 99.92(1)% average fidelity in 450 μs, opening the door to the application of integrated state detection to quantum computing and sensing utilizing arrays of trapped ions.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗