Semiconductor photodiodes without internal gain:
Semiconductor photodiodes without internal gain generate a single electron–hole pair per
absorbed photon
The p–n photodiode:
Figure 8.4 shows a reverse-biased p–n photodiode with both the depletion and diffusion regions.
1. The depletion region is formed by immobile positively charged donor atoms in the n-type
semiconductor material and immobile negatively charged acceptor atoms in the p-type
material, when the mobile carriers are swept to their majority sides under the influence of
the electric field.
2. The width of the depletion region is therefore dependent upon the doping concentrations
for a given applied reverse bias (i.e. the lower the doping, the wider the depletion region).
3. Photons may be absorbed in both the depletion and diffusion regions, as indicated by the
absorption region in Figure 8.4. The absorption region’s position and width depend upon
the energy of the incident photons and on the material from which the photodiode is
fabricated. Thus in the case of the weak absorption of photons, the absorption region may
extend completely throughout the device.
4. Electron–hole pairs are therefore generated in both the depletion and diffusion regions. In
the depletion region the carrier pairs separate and drift under the influence of the electric
field, whereas outside this region the hole diffuses towards the depletion region in order
to be collected.
5. The diffusion process is very slow compared with drift and thus limits the response of the
photodiode.
6. It is therefore important that the photons are absorbed in the depletion region. Thus it is
made as long as possible by decreasing the doping in the n-type material.
7. The depletion region width in a p–n photodiode is normally 1 to 3 μm and is optimized
for the efficient detection of light at a given wavelength. For silicon devices this is in the
visible spectrum (0.4 to 0.7 μm) and for germanium in the near infrared (0.7 to 0.9 μm).
Typical output characteristics for the reverse-biased p–n photodiode are illustrated in Figure 8.5.
The different operating conditions may be noted moving from no light input to a high light level.
The p–i–n photodiode
The PIN photodiode provides additional sensitivity and performance over that of the
basic PN junction photodiode.
One of the key requirements for any photodetector is a sufficiently large area in which
the light photons can be collected and converted. This is achieved by creating a large
depletion region - the region where the light conversion takes place - by adding an
intrinsic area into the PN junction to create a PIN junction.
So, PIN photodiode is a device which consists of a p and n regions separated by a lightly
doped intrinsic region.
The cross-sectional view of p-i-n photodiode is as shown.
A sufficiently large reverse bias is applied across the device. When an incident photon
has energy greater than or equal to the band gap energy of the semiconductor material, an
electron excites from valence band to conduction band.
These carriers are mainly generated in the depletion region where most of the incident
light is absorbed.
The high electric filed present in the depletion region causes the carriers to separate and be
collected across the reverse biased junction. This gives rise to a current flow in the external
circuit.
Figure 8.7 shows the structures of two types of silicon p–i–n photodiode.
The front-illuminated photodiode, when operating in the 0.8 to 0.9 μm band (Figure 8.7(a)),
requires a depletion region of between 20 and 50 μm in order to attain high quantum efficiency
(typically 85%) together with fast response (less than 1 ns) and low dark current (1 nA). Dark
current arises from surface leakage currents as well as generation–recombination currents in the
depletion region in the absence of illumination.
The side-illuminated structure (Figure 8.7(b)), where light is injected parallel to the junction
plane, exhibits a large absorption width (500 μm) and hence is particularly sensitive at
wavelengths close to the bandgap limit (1.09 μm) where the absorption coefficient is relatively
small.
PIN photodiode applications
The PIN photo-diode does not have any gain, and for some applications this may be a
disadvantage. Despite this it is still the most widely used form of diode, finding applications in
audio CD players, and DVD drives, etc. In addition to this they are used in optical
communication systems.
Semiconductor photodiodes with internal gain
Avalanche photodiodes:
A major disadvantage of a p-n or a p-i-n diode is that each photon generates only one pair of
electron and hole and there is no internal gain. Amplifying the output current after the detector
stage introduces significant noise. One of the ways to deal with this problem is to design a
detector with an internal gain. An avalanche photodiode (APD) is a device with internal gain
which could be as high as 100. Si - APDs have sensitivities in the range 400 to 1100 nm while
Ge-APDs have their spectral sensitivities in 800 to 1550 nm. InGaAs and InP APDs provide
better sensitivity and spectral response.
APDs are essentially p-n photodiodes operated under reverse bias near the breakdown voltage.
The configuration consists of an n+ layer followed, in sequence, by (i) a thin p-layer, (ii) an
intrinsic layer (in reality, a lightly doped p layer) and (iii) a heavily doped p-layer. The electric
field distribution is shown. The field strength is maximum at the n+p junction
The electron- hole pair generated by light absorption remain separated by the electric field in the
intrinsic region with the electrons drifting towards the lightly doped p-region and holes towards
the p+ region. As an electron reach the region of strong electric field, it has a high kinetic energy.
When such an energetic electron collides with the lattice, it may generate a new pair of electron
and a hole. Such seceondary carriers may accelerate and create additional pairs leading to an
avalanche cascade.
