Quenching Statistics of Silicon Single Photon Avalanche Diodes

• Published in: IEEE journal of the Electron Devices Society Vol. 9; pp. 1098 - 1102
• Main Authors: Cazimajou, Thibauld, Pala, Marco, Saint-Martin, Jerome, Helleboid, Remi, Grebot, Jeremy, Rideau, Denis, Dollfus, Philippe
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01.01.2021; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE); IEEE Electron Devices Society
• Subjects: Absorption; Avalanche breakdown; Avalanche diodes; avalanche photodiodes; Boltzmann transport equation; Circuits; Computational modeling; Condensed Matter; Electric fields; Electron avalanche; Engineering Sciences; Impact ionization; Integrated circuit modeling; Materials Science; Mesoscopic Systems and Quantum Hall Effect; Micro and nanotechnologies; Microelectronics; Monte Carlo methods; Photon avalanches; Photonics; Photons; Physics; Quenching; Silicon; Single-photon avalanche diodes; Statistical analysis
• ISSN: 2168-6734; 2168-6734
• DOI: 10.1109/JEDS.2021.3127013

The statistical behavior of silicon-based single-photon-avalanche-diodes (SPADs) is investigated by using self-consistent 3-D Monte Carlo simulations. The coupling of Poisson and Boltzmann transport equations allows us to go beyond the analysis of avalanche breakdown and its timing and to extend the investigation to the quenching of the photodetector circuit. We find out that the quenching of SPADs is probabilistic and strongly depends on the surrounding circuit, in particular on the so-called quenching resistance. Independently of the SPAD deadtime, it appears that the extinction time needed to suppress any avalanche event may vary over a very large range.