High gain effects for solid-state impact-ionization multipliers

We report the demonstration of a current amplification device, built from silicon and based on impact ionization, which can be cascaded to achieve very high gains. Arbitrary current sources including photodiodes can be interfaced with this device. Testing was done by amplifying the output signal fro...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE journal of quantum electronics 2006-05, Vol.42 (5), p.471-476
Main Authors: Hong-Wei Lee, Beutler, J.L., Hawkins, R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amplification
Applied sciences
Avalanche photodiode (APD)
Current measurement
Devices
electron multipliers
Electronics
Exact sciences and technology
Gain
Gain measurement
Guidelines
High gain
Impact ionization
Optical amplifiers
Optoelectronic devices
Photoconductivity
Photodiodes
Saturation
Semiconductor electronics. Microelectronics. Optoelectronics. Solid state devices
Silicon
Solid state circuits
space charge
Testing
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Description
Summary:We report the demonstration of a current amplification device, built from silicon and based on impact ionization, which can be cascaded to achieve very high gains. Arbitrary current sources including photodiodes can be interfaced with this device. Testing was done by amplifying the output signal from an independent silicon photodiode. Current gains over 600 were measured for initial photocurrents of 10 nA when two amplifying devices were cascaded together. Additionally, the gain saturation phenomenon of the amplifier due to space-charge effects is investigated. The measured gain saturation is observed to match very well with theoretical predictions. We also present guidelines for obtaining high current gain from the cascaded structure while avoiding gain saturation. Because of the low-noise gain mechanism employed, this device is of potential interest to a variety of fields requiring high-sensitivity optical or electronic detection.
ISSN:0018-9197
1558-1713
DOI:10.1109/JQE.2006.873150