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This work presents a systematic study of the sensitivities of silicon avalanche photodiode (APD) performance metrics, including gain, excess noise, and bandwidth, to potential variabilities in the fabrication process. The APDs simulations are performed using a state-of-the-art Full-Band Monte Carlo (FBMC) device simulator with the integrated band structure and scattering rates calculated $\mathit{ab{-}initio}$ with density-functional theory (DFT). The focus of this work is placed on the performance of CMOS-compatible lateral transport separate-absorber-multiplier APDs (SAM APDs) fabricated on an SOI layer. The FBMC material models are validated against experimental data for carrier velocities and impact ionization coefficients, in addition to the reported APD performance of a germanium-on-silicon (Ge-on-Si) separate-absorber-charge-multiplier APD (SACM APD). The fabrication variations considered for the SAM APD include slight variations to the doping concentration and physical dimensions of the multiplier and absorber regions, as well as the thickness of the SOI layer. The results show that fabrication variations may have significant effects on the gain of the APD, but minimally affect the excess noise factor and bandwidth of the devices.

Capacitance-voltage (C-V) profiling is a useful technique for accurate and non-destructive determination of carrier concentrations in semiconductor materials. Recently, this measurement has been applied to the infrared barrier detector to determine the doping densities of the absorber and contact layers. This paper provides three contributions to the development of barrier detectors. First, we develop a physics-based semi-analytical model for computing the C-V characteristics derived from metal-oxide-semiconductor and heterojunction device physics and show that it is in agreement with results obtained from drift-diffusion simulations. Second, we assess the possibility of using the developed model to determine not only the absorber and contact doping densities, but also the doping density and thickness of the barrier layer. Lastly, we use the same drift-diffusion methodology to conduct a comprehensive parametric study of the C-V profile for a variety of absorber n-type doping densities, barrier N- and P-type doping densities, barrier thicknesses, and contact layer n-type doping densities. We also offer an extensive discussion of the role of the various device parameters on shaping the C-V profile. While this paper uses the InAsSb and AlAsSb material system, the analysis can be extended to other materials used to implement barrier devices, such as HgCdTe or superlattices.

Electroluminescence (EL) characterization of InGaN/GaN light-emitting diodes (LEDs), coupled with numerical device models of different sophistication, is routinely adopted not only to establish correlations between device efficiency and structural features, but also to make inferences about the loss mechanisms responsible for LED efficiency droop at high driving currents. The limits of this investigative approach are discussed here in a case study based on a comprehensive set of current- and temperature-dependent EL data from blue LEDs with low and high densities of threading dislocations (TDs). First, the effects limiting the applicability of simpler (closed-form and/or one-dimensional) classes of models are addressed, like lateral current crowding, vertical carrier distribution nonuniformity, and interband transition broadening. Then, the major sources of uncertainty affecting state-of-the-art numerical device simulation are reviewed and discussed, including (i) the approximations in the transport description through the multi-quantum-well active region, (ii) the alternative valence band parametrizations proposed to calculate the spontaneous emission rate, (iii) the difficulties in defining the Auger coefficients due to inadequacies in the microscopic quantum well description and the possible presence of extra, non-Auger high-current-density recombination mechanisms and/or Auger-induced leakage. In the case of the present LED structures, the application of three-dimensional numerical-simulation-based analysis to the EL data leads to an explanation of efficiency droop in terms of TD-related and Auger-like nonradiative losses, with a C coefficient in the 10−30 cm6/s range at room temperature, close to the larger theoretical calculations reported so far. However, a study of the combined effects of structural and model uncertainties suggests that the C values thus determined could be overestimated by about an order of magnitude. This preliminary attempt at uncertainty quantification confirms, beyond the present case, the need for an improved description of carrier transport and microscopic radiative and nonradiative recombination mechanisms in device-level LED numerical models.

A generalized numerical model for the phonon-assisted optical interband transition based on the Green's function formalism was developed and implemented to investigate optical processes in germanium and silicon media intended for on-chip light emitter and laser applications. High-fidelity full band structures obtained from the empirical pseudopotential method, self-energies, and the corresponding spectral density functions for the phonon-perturbed electron and holes have been computed numerically as a function of strain, temperature, and doping level. Validation has been carried out by showing the model's ability to accurately reproduce the measured temperature dependent absorption coefficient data for both germanium and silicon. Absorption coefficients, radiative recombination rates of germanium and silicon active media were investigated with different biaxial tensile strain, doping concentrations and injection conditions. Furthermore, when the model is employed to compute the optical gain in strained germanium, we find that the use of tensile strain and high injection are the preferable approaches to obtain population inversion. At the same time, strong absorption from the spin-orbit to the heavy-hole band limits the maximum injection density that can be applied. Finally, when applied to study silicon, the proposed model also successfully reproduces the experimentally observed radiative recombination peak due to the two-phonon process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work we analytically investigate the longitudinal optical conductivity of the symmetric topological insulator. The conductivity expressions at T = 0 are derived using the Kubo formula and expressed as a function of the ratio of the Dresselhaus and Rashba parameters that characterize the low-energy Hamiltonian. We find that the longitudinal inter-band conductivity vanishes when Dresselhaus and Rashba parameters are equal in strength, also called the persistent spin helix state. The calculations are extended to obtain the frequency-dependent real and imaginary components of the optical conductivity for the topological Kondo insulator SmB6 which exhibits symmetric and anisotropic Dirac cones hosting topological states at point on the surface Brillouin zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]