Nano avalanche photodiode architecture for photon detection

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9570646-B2
Application number	US-201414185567-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 20, 2014
Priority date	Feb 20, 2014
Publication date	Feb 14, 2017
Grant date	Feb 14, 2017

Abstract

An integrated circuit includes a substrate material that includes an epitaxial layer, wherein the substrate material and the epitaxial layer form a first semiconductor material with the epitaxial layer having a first conductivity type. At least one nanowire comprising a second semiconductor material having a second conductivity type doped differently than the first conductivity type of the first semiconductor material forms a junction crossing region with the first semiconductor material. The nanowire and the first semiconductor material form an avalanche photodiode (APD) in the junction crossing region to enable single photon detection. In an alternative configuration, the APD is formed as a p-i-n crossing region where n represents an n-type material, i represents an intrinsic layer, and p represents a p-type material.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An integrated circuit comprising:
a substrate material that includes an epitaxial layer, wherein the substrate material and the epitaxial layer form a first semiconductor material with the epitaxial layer having a first conductivity type; and
at least one nanowire comprising a second semiconductor material having a second conductivity type doped differently than the first conductivity type of the first semiconductor material, wherein the at least one nanowire is positioned on a surface the first semiconductor material and runs from a given edge of the first semiconductor material to an opposite edge of the semiconductor material to form a junction crossing region with the first semiconductor material, wherein the at least one nanowire and the first semiconductor material form an avalanche photodiode (APD) in the junction crossing region to enable single photon detection.

2. The integrated circuit of claim 1 , wherein the first conductivity type is a p-type and the second conductivity type is an n-type or the first conductivity type is an n-type and the second conductivity type is a p-type.

3. The integrated circuit of claim 1 , wherein the at least one nanowire is grown on the epitaxial layer via deposition or grown at a different location than the epitaxial layer and placed on the epitaxial layer after growth.

4. The integrated circuit of claim 1 , further comprising a Bragg mirror that is formed above the substrate and below the epitaxial layer to increase photon detection sensitivity of the APD.

5. The integrated circuit of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first semiconductor material or the second semiconductor material is Si.

6. The integrated circuit of claim 1 , wherein the APD forms a resonant cavity to increase photon detection sensitivity of the APD.

7. The integrated circuit of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of nanowires that form a plurality of junction crossing regions in a given area on the epitaxial layer, wherein the plurality of junction crossing regions form an integrated circuit pixel for photon detection.

8. The integrated circuit of claim 7 , further comprising a plurality of integrated circuit pixels on the epitaxial layer to form a pixilated sensor array for photon detection.

9. The integrated circuit of claim 1 , wherein the at least one nanowire is fabricated at about 2 to 100 nanometers in diameter and 5 to 250 nanometers in length.

10. The integrated circuit of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first or second semiconductor materials is Silicon (Si) and at least one of the first or second semiconductor materials is selected from a group consisting of: Ge, InGaAs,
InGaAs x P 1-x , CdS, CdSe ZnS, and ZnSe to enable photon detection in the near infrared wavelength range, wherein x is a number greater than or equal to zero and where (Ge) is Germanium, (In) is Indium, (Ga) is Gallium, (As) is Arsenic, (P) is Phosphorus, (Cd) is Cadmium, (Se) is Selenium, (Zn) is Zinc, and (S) is Sulfur.

11. The integrated circuit of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first or second semiconductor materials is Si and at least one of the first or second semiconductor materials is selected from a group consisting of: PbS, PbSe, InSb, GaSb, CdS, CdSe, HgCdSe, HgCdS, and HgCdTe to enable photon detection in the medium or long infrared wavelength range, where (Pb) is Lead, (S) is sulfur, (Se) is Selenium, (In) is Indium, (Ga) is Gallium, (Cd) is Cadmium, (Sb) is Antimony, (Hg) is Mercury, and (Te) is Tellurium.

12. The integrated circuit of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first or second semiconductor materials is Si and at least one of the first or second semiconductor materials is selected from a group consisting of: PbSe x S 1-x , Cd x Hg 1-x S, Pb x Hg 1-x S, CdSe x S 1-x , As 2 S x Se 5-x , GeSe x S y Te (1-x-y) , CuAlS 2-x Se x , As x Se 1-x Ge 5 , AgGaSe 2 —GeSe 2 , and AgGaS 2 —GeS 2 to enable tunable wavelength characteristics, wherein x and y are numbers greater than or equal to zero and where (Cu) is Copper, (Al) is Aluminum, (As) is Arsenic, (Ge) is Germanium, (Pb) is Lead, (S) is sulfur, (Se) is Selenium, (In) is Indium, (Ga) is Gallium, (Cd) is Cadmium, (Sb) is Antimony, (Hg) is Mercury and (Ag) is Silver.

13. An integrated circuit comprising:
a first nanowire comprising a first semiconductor material having a first conductivity type, the first nanowire having an intrinsic layer formed over the first semiconductor material to increase photon sensitivity;
a second nanowire comprising a second semiconductor material having a second conductivity type doped differently than the first conductivity type of the first semiconductor material of the first nanowire, wherein a portion of the second nanowire is positioned too overlay a portion of the first nanowire to form a junction crossing region and wherein the junction crossing region forms an avalanche photodiode (APD) for single photon detection; and
a substrate material to provide a base for the junction crossing region.

14. The integrated circuit of claim 13 , wherein the first conductivity type is a p-type and the second conductivity type is an n-type or the first conductivity type is an n-type and the second conductivity type is a p-type.

15. The integrated circuit of claim 13 , further comprising a Bragg mirror that is formed over the substrate material to increase photon detection sensitivity of the APD.

16. The integrated circuit of claim 13 , wherein at least one of the first semiconductor material or the second semiconductor material is Si.

17. The integrated circuit of claim 13 , wherein the APD forms a resonant cavity to increase photon detection sensitivity of the APD.

18. The integrated circuit of claim 13 , further comprising a plurality of nanowires that form a plurality of junction crossing regions in a given area on the substrate material, wherein the plurality of junction crossing regions form an integrated circuit pixel for photon detection.

19. The integrated circuit of claim 18 , further comprising a plurality of integrated circuit pixels on the substrate material to form a pixilated sensor array for photon detection.

20. The integrated circuit of claim 13 , wherein the at least one nanowire is fabricated at about 2 to 100 nanometers in diameter and 5 to 250 nanometers in length.

21. The integrated circuit of claim 13 , wherein at least one of the first or second semiconductor materials is Silicon (Si) and at least one of the first or second semiconductor materials is selected from a group consisting of: Ge, InGaAs, InGaAs x P 1-x , CdS, CdSe ZnS, and ZnSe to enable photon detection in the near infrared wavelength range, wherein x is a number greater than or equal to zero and where (Ge) is Germanium, (In) is Indium, (Ga) is Gallium, (As) is Arsenic, (P) is Phosphorus, (Cd) is Cadmium, (Se) is Selenium, (Zn) is Zinc, and (S) is Sulfur.

22. The integrated circuit of claim 13 , wherein at least one of the first or second semiconductor materials is Si and at least one of the first or second semiconductor materials is selected from a group consisting of: PbS, PbSe, InSb, GaSb, CdS, CdSe, HgCdSe, HgCdS, and HgCdTe to enable photon detection in the medium or long infrared wavelength range, where (Pb) is Lead, (Sb) is Antimony, (S) is sulfur, (Se) is Selenium, (In) is Indium, (Ga) is Gallium, (Cd) is Cadmium, (Hg) is Mercury, and (Te) is Tellurium.

23. The integrated circuit of claim 13 , wherein at least one of the first or second semiconduc

Assignees

• Singh Narsingh B
• Veliadis John V
• Nechay Bettina
• Berghmans Andre
• Knuteson David J
• Kahler David
• Wagner Brian
• Sherwin Marc
• Northrop Grumman Systems Corp

Inventors

• Singh Narsingh B
• Veliadis John V
• Nechay Bettina
• Berghmans Andre
• Knuteson David J
• Kahler David
• Wagner Brian
• Sherwin Marc

Classifications

• H01L27/1443

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H01L31/18

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H01L31/02327

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H01L27/1446

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H01L31/0336

  Electricity · mapped topic