Characterization of cooled large-area silicon avalanche photodiodes
- Department of Physics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210 (United States)
We characterize the operation of large-area high-gain silicon avalanche photodiodes (APDs) at near liquid-nitrogen temperatures. The APDs that we studied have active areas of 64 mm{sup 2} and have gains of up to 20&hthinsp;000 at 85 K. We characterized the devices for both the usual, analog mode of operation and for doing single-photon pulse counting. The experimental results were found to be reasonably well described by the McIntyre theory. We independently measured {ital k}, the hole/electron ionization ratio{emdash}a key parameter in the McIntyre theory{emdash}and found it to be {approximately}6{times}10{sup {minus}4}. Cooled, large-area, high-gain APDs compare favorably to photomultiplier tubes in applications that require high sensitivity at near-infrared wavelengths. {copyright} {ital 1999 American Institute of Physics.}
- OSTI ID:
- 341180
- Journal Information:
- Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 70, Issue 4; Other Information: PBD: Apr 1999
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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