Minimizing Photodiode Nonlinearities by Compensating Voltage-Dependent Responsivity Effects

Two voltage-dependant responsivity effects, impact ionization and Franz-Keldysh oscillations, are shown to have opposing effects at certain wavelengths in p-i-n photodiodes. It is shown that these two effects can compensate each other and minimize photodiode nonlinearities when optimized with respect to wavelength and bias voltage.