Comprehensive Modeling and Characterization of Photon Detection Efficiency and Jitter Tail in Advanced SPAD Devices

• Published in: IEEE journal of the Electron Devices Society Vol. 10; pp. 584 - 592
• Main Authors: Helleboid, Remi, Rideau, Denis, Grebot, Jeremy, Nicholson, Isobel, Moussy, Norbert, Saxod, Olivier, Basset, Marie, Zimmer, Antonin, Mamdy, Bastien, Golanski, Dominique, Agnew, Megan, Pellegrini, Sara, Sicre, Mathieu, Buj, Christel, Marchand, Guillaume, Saint-Martin, Jerome, Pala, Marco, Dollfus, Philippe
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 2022; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE); IEEE Electron Devices Society
• Subjects: Avalanche breakdown probability; Breakdown; breakdown voltage; Computational modeling; Condensed Matter; Electric fields; Electron avalanche; Engineering Sciences; Jitter; Materials Science; Mesoscopic Systems and Quantum Hall Effect; Micro and nanotechnologies; Microelectronics; One dimensional models; photon detection efficiency (PDE); Photonics; Physics; Semiconductor process modeling; Silicon; single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD); Single-photon avalanche diodes; Solid modeling; technology computer-aided design (TCAD); Vibration; single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD); jitter; technology computer-aided design (TCAD); Avalanche breakdown probability; photon detection efficiency (PDE); breakdown voltage
• ISSN: 2168-6734; 2168-6734
• DOI: 10.1109/JEDS.2022.3168365

A new method to reliably simulate the PDE and jitter tail for realistic three-dimensional SPAD devices is presented. The simulation method is based on the use of electric field lines to mimic the carriers' trajectories, and on one-dimensional models for avalanche breakdown probability and charges transport. This approach allows treating a three-dimensional problem as several one-dimensional problems along each field line. The original approach is applied to the McIntyre model for avalanche breakdown probability to calculate PDE, but also for jitter prediction using a dedicated advection-diffusion model. The results obtained numerically are compared with an extensive series of measurements and show a good agreement on a wide variety of device designs.