Technology Primer and Update:

Photodiodes

Jeff Hecht
Contributing Editor, Laser Focus World
Author: Understanding Lasers 4th edition
Understanding Fiber Optics

Hecht/Photodiodes 1
Introduction & Overview

 Light Measurement
 Evolution of photodetectors
 Photodiodes
 Technology
 Types
 Materials
 Relevant parameters
 Operation
 Trends

Hecht/Photodiodes 2
Light Measurement

 Early measurement by human eye

 Inherently subjective
 Limited to photometric detection
 More objective measurement
 Needs detector
 Needs measurement
 Readout & recording
 Photographs
 Oscilloscopes
 Meters
 Computers

Art from John W. T. Walsh Photometry 1926

Hecht/Photodiodes 3
Modern quantitative measurement

 Need a detector that senses

 Photons
 Thermal Heat from absorbing photons
 Measurement process
 Observable response
 Calibrate response
 Example: millamperes per milliwatt of light
 Readout or data recording
 Visible output display
 Galvanometer, display or oscilloscope
 Digital output
 To computer, sensing system, display

Hecht/Photodiodes 4
Photodetectors: IR VIS UV
Vacuum Photodiodes: (photemission) over a century old

 Photomultiplier tubes  Metal case PMT

 Invented 1937
 Electrostatic
 RCA Labs
 Type 931
 Still made

Wikipedia

Hecht/Photodiodes 5
LFW Jan 2006
Thermal detectors

 Absorbs heat
 Broadband absorption
 Mainly for infrared
 Relatively insensitive
 Little cooling
 Electrical output
 Bolometer
 Heats material with temperature-dependent resistance
 Thermopile (arrays of thermocouples)
 Broad range 1-25 µm
 Pyroelectric (crystal, passive heat to current)

Art from John W. T. Walsh Photometry 1926

Hecht/Photodiodes 6
Semiconductor energy levels and
photodetector operation
 Carriers:
Conduction band
 Electrons/holes

Electron energy
 Impurity doping
 Increases +/- carriers
400-10,000+ nm
 Valence band Bandgap
 Electrons bound in crystal
 Conduction band
 Electrons free in crystal Valence band

 Band gap – no energy

levels
 No light – just sits
 Light can excite Density of States

Hecht/Photodiodes Wikipedia 7
Semiconductor detectors

 Photoresistive (bias, measures resistance)

 Light reduces electrical resistance
 Have a bandgap, but lack PN junction – not a diode
 Photovoltaic mode, like solar cell (unbiased)
 But circuit is optimized differently for detectors
 Anode positive to cathode
 Photoconductive sensor (reverse-biased)
 Biased so cathode positive to anode
 Faster, but may have more electronic noise

Hecht/Photodiodes 8
Photoresistive detectors

 AKA as photoresistors, light-dependent

resistors, photoconductive cells
 Normally high resistance
 Light excites bound electrons to conduction
band
 Semiconductors but not photodiodes
 No junction
 Temperature dependent, slow response
 Used in night lights, controls street lights

Hecht/Photodiodes 9
Photoconductive PbS and PbSe
 Illumination increases carriers
 Not diodes
 Decreasing electrical resistance of thin film
 PbS 1.0-3.5 µm
 PbSe 1.5-4.8 µm
 Used in pulsed operation – require chopper
 Have special requirements

Teledyne Judson art Hecht/Photodiodes 10

Photovoltaic "solar cell"
Light

 p-i-n diode
 Light produces P-type
electron-hole Intrinsic
pairs in intrinsic + + + region
+ +
region
+- +-
 Producing
current for solar -
-
power - - N-type
-
 No bias
Hecht/Photodiodes 11
PIN diode photoconductive operation
with bias
 Light produces
electron-hole
Negative bias
pairs in intrinsic
region +
+ +
+ +
 Bias voltage
+- +-
draws carriers Intrinsic zone

 Producing -
-
current signal - -
- Power

Positive voltage
Hecht/Photodiodes 12
Schottky Photodiode-1

 Not pn junction diode

 Metal semiconductor
junction separates
and collect light-
produced charge
carriers
 Electrical connections
not shown

Hecht/Photodiodes 13
Schottky Photodiode-2

 Metal-semiconductor junction
 No p-type layer
 Simplifies manufacture (p-metal contacts troublesome)
 Lower forward voltage
 Faster time response
 No remnant tail from carriers in p-layer
 Broader signal bandwidths than PIN
 Forms metal junctions with wideband
semiconductors: InGaN, GaN, SiC
 Less efficient than PIN at longer wavelengths
 Mainly used for blue, UV or high-speed uses

Hecht/Photodiodes 14
Photodiode materials
Type Material Wavelengths (nm)
PV Indium gallium nitride 230-395
PV Silicon 400–1000 *to 200 nm possible
PV Germanium 600–1600
PV Gallium arsenide 800–1000
PV Indium gallium arsenide 1000–2600 (extended)
PV Indium arsenide 1500–3800
PC/PV Lead sulfide 1500–3300
PC/PV Lead selenide 1500–6000
PV Indium antimonide 1000-5500
PV Indium-arsenide antimonide 1000-11,000
PV Mercury cadmium telluride 2000-28,000

Hecht/Photodiodes 15
Typical silicon spectral responsivity

 Typical response
for a photodiode
 Shows
amperes/watt
 Response high at
long end because
most of exciting
photon generates
electronic signal
 Less of photon
energy goes into
signal at short end
Pearsallt at English Wikipedia
Creative Commons License 16
Hecht/Photodiodes
Silicon and InGaAs Responsivity

InGaAs

Si

Hecht/Photodiodes 17
ThorLabs
Indium Antimonide Specific Detectivity D*

 Photodiodes
 1-6 µm response
 Cooling to 77 °K
 Response varies
with size

Teledyne Judson Hecht/Photodiodes 18

Germanium

 Response range
similar to InGaAs
 Nosier than InGaAs
 Better linearity
 Large area costs less
 Can make 2-color
detector with Si
 400-1000 nm Si
 1000-1800 nm Ge

GPD Optoelectronics Hecht/Photodiodes 19

Indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs)

 Ternary
 Extended range
 Changing In/Ga
ratio Changes
Bandgap
 More Indium
longer wavelength
 Moves bandgap
 Blue 1.7 µm
 Green 2.2 µm
 Red 2.5 µm
 Spectral range
does not increase

Hecht/Photodiodes Sensors 20
Mercury Cadmium Telluride range
 HgCdTe only 'common' material able to detect
both major IR windows
 Bandgap depends on Hg/Cd ratio
 MWIR (3-5 µm) detection using 30% Cd
[(Hg0.7Cd0.3)Te]
 Requires thermoelectric cooling
 LWIR (8-12 µm) 20% Cd [(Hg0.8Cd0.2)Te]
 Requires cooling to liquid nitrogen temperature)
 HgCdTe can be made with very small bandgaps
 Spectral range can range from 1.5 to 28 µm
 No single detector is usable across whole range

Hecht/Photodiodes 21
HgCdTe

 Thermoelectric HgCdTe D* 60°FOV

 Standard 2-5 µm
 Extended to 9 µm
 Liquid Nitrogen 77 K
 2-5 µm
 2-13 µm
 2-24 µm
 Bias voltage
Infrared Associates
Hecht/Photodiodes 22
Two-band IR with InSb HgCdTe

 InSb 1-5.5 µm element

 HgCdTe 5.5-12.5 µm element
 Radiometry, thermal imaging, FTIR
 Background discrimination

Hecht/Photodiodes 23
Infrared Associates
InGaN detectors for UV

 Nitride bandgaps
 0.7 eV for InN, 3.4 eV for GaN, and 6.2 eV for AlN
 Can be made visible blind and solar blind
 (seeing only UV wavelengths shorter than
365 nm for visible blind or 280 nm for solar
blind)
 PIN and Schottky barrier detectors

Hecht/Photodiodes 24
 InGaN Schottky UV photodiode

 Photovoltaic
 230-395 nm
 0.12 A/W
 Bandgap ~ 380 nm
 Designed to
monitor full UV

Responsivity curve
www.eoc-inc.com
Electro-Optical Components Hecht/Photodiodes 25
Amplifying photodetectors

 Some detectors have built-in amplifiers

 Vacuum photomultiplier tubes
 Phototransistors
 Avalanche photodiodes
 Single-photon avalanche photodiodes (SPADs)
 Silicon photomultipliers (SiPM)
 Optical receivers (detector-amplifiers)
 Telecommunication receivers
 Integrated photonics

Hecht/Photodiodes 26
Avalanche photodiode

 A photodiode operated at a high reverse bias

voltage, but below breakdown threshold.
 Design goal is to allow linear amplification.
 Operation close to breakdown can generate
excess noise.
 A single photon can be multiplied about 100-
fold.
 Avalanche is self-quenching.
 Used in fiber optics before fiber amplifiers

Hecht/Photodiodes 27
Single-photon avalanche photodiodes SPADs

 Operates in "Geiger mode"

 Biased above reverse-bias breakdown voltage
 Designed to withstand damage and excess noise
 Impact ionization and avalanche occurs in SPAD
 Called "Geiger mode" because output pulses act
like a "click" event in a Geiger counter.
 Gain much higher than in APD
 Used in lidars.
 Strong signal, but noisy
Hecht/Photodiodes 28
Silicon Photomultiplier (SiPM or SiMT)

 An array of avalanche photodiodes operated

in Geiger mode, like SPADs.
 Counting the number of microcells that fire
gives a pseudo-linear response.
 Gains can reach 500,000 to one million..
 Attractive for lidar
 Can be used for single-photon observations

Hecht/Photodiodes 29
Optical receivers

 Detector packaged with amplifier

 Plug and play module
 Wavelength range depends on material bandgap
 Photodiode gives electrical output
 Low-noise, linear, broadband electrical amp
 Attractions
 Usable at low optical power
 High dynamic range
 Isolation of photodiode from external circuits
 Often specialized for measurements

Hecht/Photodiodes 30
Performance factors

 Wavelength sensitivity range

 Responsivity Amps/watt
 Quantum efficiency
 fraction of photons detected
 Response time
 Noise and dark current
 Photon timing and Jitter
 Linear dynamic range

Hecht/Photodiodes 31
Responsivity & Quantum efficiency

 Wavelength range depends on material

 Ratio of photocurrent output to input light
power in A/W in photoconductive mode
 Drops off at shorter wavelength because energy
of electrons is limited to bandgap
 Important measure of sensitivity
 Quantum efficiency is number of electrons
out vs. photons in

Hecht/Photodiodes 32
Dark Current

 Current a photodiode generates in the dark in

photoconductive mode.
 From Background radiation, saturation current
 Must be included to calibrate optical power
measurements
 Important noise source
 Depends on diode structure and material

Hecht/Photodiodes 33
Noise-Equivalent Power

 Formally: optical input needed to generate

photocurrent equal to RMS noise in a 1-Hz
band.
 Minimum detectable power
 Input signal where S/N ratio = 1 in 1-Hz band
 Sensitivity in W/√𝐻𝐻𝐻𝐻
1
 Detectivity (D) =
𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁
𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴
 Specific Detectivity (D*) =
𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁
 Normalized to unit area and detection bandwidth

Hecht/Photodiodes 34
Response time and bandwidth

 Time from absorption of photon to generation

of current by electron-hole pair
 Rise time: time for photodetector output to
rise from 10% to 90% of maximum level
 RC time constant – time to charge capacitor
through resistor in circuit
 𝜏𝜏 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 = 𝑅𝑅(𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜) × 𝐶𝐶(𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓)

Hecht/Photodiodes 35
Linear Dynamic Range

Rollover

Linear
Response
A/W

Hecht/Photodiodes 36
Special Requirements

 Filtering to control Hamamatsu 16-element

InGaAs linear array
wavelength range
measured
 Solar blind detectors
 UV blind detectors
Simple spectroscopy
 IR blind detectors
 Linear arrays
 Quad detectors
 Imaging arrays
 Timing (mentioned
high speed above)
LFW Aug 2011
Hecht/Photodiodes 37
Trends & Emerging Technology

 Integrated photonics
 Need for Silicon-compatible materials (e.g. Ge, InP)
 Largely communications oriented
 Metal-organic detectors
 New nitride detectors for UV and other bands
 Graphene and related planar materials
 Perovskites (Organic-inorganic hybrids)
 Ultrafast, high sensitivity, near-IR
 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41377-020-0264-5
 Other research

Hecht/Photodiodes 38
Metal-organic photodetector

 Metal-organic framework
 Highly tailorable hybrid materials
 Metal ions coordinate with organic linkers
 High porosity possible
 Some semiconducting types
 Broadband photodetection
 In superimposed semiconducting layers
 400-1575 nm; bandgap 0.45 eV
 Best cooled to 77K
 May 2020 LFW; Helmholtz Center, Dresden
 doi:10.1002/adma.201907063

Hecht/Photodiodes 39
Silicon response in UV

 Based on black
silicon surface
 <10% reflectance
 https://www.nature.co
m/articles/nphoton.20
16.226

Elfys.fi Hecht/Photodiodes 40
 Deep UV photodiode research

 BETA-Ga2O3/GaN heterojunction
 Photocurrent increased linearly by factor of
1000 with increasing UV intensity
 Responsivity 0.18 A/W at 225 nm
 Submillisecond response time

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sna.2015.06.011
Hecht/Photodiodes 41
Graphene

 Schottky photodiode with light entering

through graphene rather than transparent
gold layer
 Detection in 200-400 nm
 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41699-017-
0008-4
 200-400 nm range

Hecht/Photodiodes 42
Outlook

 Silicon compatibility will be big

 Integrated photonics/telecomm
 Imaging will be big
 High resolution video
 Robotics, automation, security,
 Each may have its own requirements
 New materials may offer new capabilities
 Graphene and analogs

Hecht/Photodiodes 43