New silicon reach-through avalanche photodiodes with enhanced sensitivity in the DUV/UV wavelength range

Many applications, particularly in the medical and bio-medical fields, require highly sensitive detectors in the short wavelength range (blue and below); so far there have been few commercially available avalanche photodetectors with adequate performance to satisfy demands of such applications. We have developed a new silicon reach-through avalanche photodiode (RAPD) operating in the blue wavelength range with improved sensitivity and noise performance superior to any similar detectors available on the market today. This has been accomplished thanks to an innovative, ultra-thin and highly doped surface top layer grown using a new epitaxial technique developed at Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands. An important additional advantage of this new RAPD is its unmatched noise performance over the widest commercially available wavelength range from 250 nm to 1100 nm. Short wavelength response is limited only by the transmission of the package window optimized for wavelengths starting at 250 nm and up, but devices can operate at wavelength even below 100 nm if assembled in a vacuum.