A normal amorphous silicon-based separate absorption and multiplication avalanche photodiode (SAMAPD) with very high optical gain

A normal amorphous silicon-based separate absorption and multiplication avalanche photodiode (SAMAPD) with very high optical gain of the avalanche photodiode has been developed successfully by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). Based on experimental results, using undoped /spl alpha/-Si:H as avalanche layer material and /spl alpha/-Si/sub 1-x/Ge/sub x/:H as absorption layer material, the hole-injection (HI) type SAMAPD yields a very high optical gain of 686 at a reverse bias of 16 V under an incident light power of P/sub in/=1 /spl mu/W and has a rise time of 145 /spl mu/s at a load resistance R=10 k/spl Omega/. Thus the amorphous silicon-based SAMAPD is a good candidate for the long-range optical communication applications.<
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