Demonstration of a fully vertical hole-injected 4H-SiC-SACM-Avalanche-Photodiode with two serial pn-junctions

Beier F, Papathanasiou N, Kallinger B, Rommel M, Schulze J (2026)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2026

Journal

IEEE Sensors Letters IEEE

DOI: 10.1109/LSENS.2026.3733722

Abstract

Silicon carbide (4H-SiC) avalanche photodiodes (SiC-APDs) were fabricated with the separate absorption, charge and multiplication design (SACM) for the detection of low intensity ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Unlike conventional 4H-SiC-SACM-APDs, which typically employ a single pn-junction, our design consists of two pn-junctions in series. This enables a fully vertical device architecture, ensures efficient hole injection into the multiplication layer, simplifies the fabrication process, and omits the need for p-type ohmic contacts. We demonstrate that the second pn-junction does not lead to observable deterioration of the electrical or spectral performance of the 4H-SiC-SACM-APDs. The gain was measured as a function of wavelength, with gain values up to 2 × 106 under linear operation. Temperature- and diameter-dependent measurements were performed to investigate the current flow through the second pn-junction.

Involved external institutions

Fraunhofer-Institut für Integrierte Systeme und Bauelementetechnologie (IISB) DE Germany (DE) sglux GmbH DE Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Beier, F., Papathanasiou, N., Kallinger, B., Rommel, M., & Schulze, J. (2026). Demonstration of a fully vertical hole-injected 4H-SiC-SACM-Avalanche-Photodiode with two serial pn-junctions. IEEE Sensors Letters. https://doi.org/10.1109/LSENS.2026.3733722

MLA:

Beier, Felix, et al. "Demonstration of a fully vertical hole-injected 4H-SiC-SACM-Avalanche-Photodiode with two serial pn-junctions." IEEE Sensors Letters (2026).

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