© 1984 OSA/OFC 1984

50 TUESDAY MORNlNGfAFTERNOON

TUH2 Rellablllty o! planar InGaAs photodlodes

R. H. SAUL. F. S. CHEN. and P. W. SHUMATE, AT&T

Bell Laboratories. Murray Hill, N.J. 07974.
Photodiodes fabricated with an InGaAs absorbing
region are widely used in optical receivers for the
1.3-1.6 pm-wavelengthregion. We report here the
first comprehensive reliability study of planar InGaAs
photodiodes. These devices are fabricated using
selective area diffusionto define the junction area;
a SiN, film seals the iunction perimeter from the
ambient. Accelerated testing using thermal and
nonthermal stresses has been used to determine
relevant failure mechanisms. failure statistics. a o
tivation energy, and p r d u r e s for eliminating early
failures (infant mortality).
Over 120 photodiodes were aged at -10-V bias
at various temperatures ranging from 85 to 250°C.
In contrast to previous work on mesa diodes. t2 there
is no change in dark current b or any other param-
eter, but after an aging time which may extend to
severa1 thousand hours. ld increases very rapidly
resulting in a weildefined end of life. Faiiures are
shown to foiiow lognormal statistics. Median lives
are strongly temperature dependent. being char-
acterized by an activation energy of -1.1 eV.
Device failure is shown to ba correlatedto localized
leakage paths at the junction perimeter. The same
mode of failure is induced by operating devices at
high reverse bias, the reciproca1of the media1 life
varying exponentiallywith reverse bias. These data
are used to estimate median life at use condi-
tions.
The sudden failure characteristic is insidious
because early failures cannot be predicted in ad-
vance from initial aging raies or by correiation with
initial parameters. High reverse bias was found to
be particularly useful in inducing b changes in some
(presumed to be weak or flawed) devices. By
combining overvoltage with high temperatures, we
have developed a purge which identifies. for re-
moval, those devices which are likely to fail early in
service. The effects of purges of increasedseverity
will be discussed. The effectiveness of a purge can
be corroborated by a subsequent life test. Figure
1 shows life test results which illustrate the dramatic
reduction in early failures for purgeddevices. De-
tails will be presented. (12 mln)

1. G. H. Olsen and M.Ettenberg. in TechnicalDgest.

Topical Meeting on Optical Fiber Communcation
(Optical Society of America, Washington, D.C.,
1982). paper WDD4.
2. D. G. Jenklns and A. W. Mabbitt. presented at the
IEEE Specialist Conference on Light Emitting
Diodes and Photodetectws.OttawaHull, Canada,
15-16 Sept. 1982, paper 57.
 © 1984 OSA/OFC 1984
TUESDAY MORNINGIAFTERNOON 51

TUG3 Table 1. Characterlstlcsof the Hlgh N.A. Flbers Developed

50 - b 3.88 N.A. - 0.40

20 -
R e f r a c t i v e index
difference
- 10
-
c
-
-d

N.A. 8 5 -
Y
3
5
:
Attenuation 2 -

(dB/km)

1-

~ o T* =200-c
o . o o o ~
0.2
0.1
t
~
I
0.6
I
0.8 1.0
I I
1.2
I
1.1
I
1.6
I
1.8 2.0
Uavolength ( e m )

TUG3 Fig. 1. Attenuation spectrum for the high N.A. fiber developed (type
B).

':L 0.5
MAlN POPULATION

5 I 0 20 40 60 00 9095

CUMULATIVE FAILURES I%)

99.5

TUH2 Fig. 1. Distribution of Id failures showing

the absence of early failures in purged devices.

BOND WlRE
AuBONDPAD I
TUG3 Fig. 2. Transmitted image photograph:
image fiber 0.5-mm o.d., 5000 fiber elements, fiber
type A.

n + GaAs

(a)
-2-
. -

TUHI Fig. 1. (a) GaAs Schottky barrier photo-

detector structure; (b) equivalent electrical circuit
TUH3
- -
'E
OSCILLATOR
*[IPECTRUM
ANALVZER

Fig. 2. Microwave fiber-optic link.

1
P
4
-
u.
i 2 4 6 8 1012141618
FREQUENCY GHz
TUHI Fig. 3. (a) Microwave optical link fre-
quency response; (b) photodetector frequency re-
'
of photodetector. sponse. (Solid line is calculated response based
on measured circuit parameters.)