Abstract
Soft, noisy silicon avalanche photodiodes were studied using the SEM electron beam induced current technique and transmission electron microscopy. They were found to contain varying concentrations of (i) diffusion-induced misfit dislocations, (ii) precipitates and (iii) cusps (lines of shallower penetration) in ragged p-n+ junctions due to dislocation-retarded diffusion. The noise was of classical microplasma form but the sites of this breakdown did not correlate with the precipitates as in most previous cases, but occurred at favoured points along the cusps in the p-n+ junction. Low and intermediate densities of misfit dislocations were found to produce microplasmas with lower breakdown voltages than very high densities. The shallowest misfit dislocations produced the greatest diffusion retardation, suggesting that removal of atoms from the diffusing flux by segregation to the dislocation is the mechanism responsible.[/p]
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Lesniak, M., Holt, D.B. Defect microstructure and microplasmas in silicon avalanche photodiodes. J Mater Sci 22, 3547–3555 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01161457
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01161457