Introduction to Semiconductor Engineering

PHOTODIODES
MATERIALS AND
CONSTRUCTION
 Materi als
• The material used to make a photodiode is
critical to defining its properties, because only
photons with sufficient energy to excite
electrons across the material's bandgap will
produce significant photocurrents.
Materials commonly used to produce
photodiodes include:
• Material Wavelength range (nm)
Silicon190–1100
Germanium400–1700
Indium gallium arsenide800–2600
Lead sulfide<1000-3500
• Because of their greater bandgap, silicon-based
photodiodes generate less noise than
germanium-based photodiodes, but germanium
photodiodes must be used for wavelengths
longer than approximately 1 µm

• Since transistors and ICs are made of

semiconductors, and contain P-N junctions:
almost every active component is potentially a
photodiode.
• Many components, especially those sensitive to
small currents, will not work correctly if
illuminated, due to the induced photocurrents.

• In most components this is not desired, so they

are placed in an opaque housing. Since housings
are not completely opaque to X-rays or other
high energy radiation, these can still cause many
ICs to malfunction due to induced photo-currents.
 Const ru cti on
• Hamamatsu photodiodes can be classified by
manufacturing method and construction into:
five types of silicon photodiodes and two types
each of GaAsP and GaP photodiodes.
 Ph ot odio de Co nstr ucti on
• Silicon photodiodes are
constructed from single
crystal silicon wafers
similar to those used in
the manufacture of
integrated circuits
• The major difference is that photodiodes require
higher purity silicon

• The purity of silicon is directly related to its

resistivity, with higher resistivity indicating higher
purity silicon.

• Centro Vision products utilize silicon whose

resistivities range from 10 Ohm-cm to 10,000
Ohm-cm.
A cross section of a typical silicon
photodiode is shown in the figure:
• N type silicon is the starting material.

• A thin "p" layer is formed on the front surface of

the device by thermal diffusion or ion
implantation of the appropriate doping material
(usually boron).

• The interface between the "p" layer and the "n"

silicon is known as a pn junction.
• The back contact is the cathode, the front
contact is the anode.

• The active area is coated with either silicon

nitride, silicon monoxide or silicon dioxide for
protection and to serve as an anti-reflection
coating.

• The thickness of this coating is optimized for

particular irradiation wavelengths.
Pla nar Diffusi on Type
• An SiO2 coating is
applied to the P-N
junction surface, yielding
a photodiode with a low
level dark current.
Low-Ca pa cita nce Pla nar
Diffusi on Type
• A high-speed version of the planar
diffusion type photodiode. This
type makes use of a highly pure,
high-resistance N-type material to
enlarge the depletion layer and
thereby decrease the junction
capacitance, thus lowering the
response time to 1/ 10 the normal
value. The P layer is made extra
thin for high ultraviolet response.
PN N+ Typ e
• A low-resistance N+ material
layer is made thick to bring
the NN+ boundary close to
the depletion layer. This
somewhat lowers the
sensitivity to infrared
radiation, making this type of
device useful for
measurements of short
wavelengths.
PI N Type
• An improved version of the low-
capacitance planar diffusion
device.
• It Uses: extra high-resistance I
layer between the P- and N-layers
to improve response time.
• exhibits even further improved
response time when used with
reversed bias.
• designed with high resistance to
breakdown and low leakage for
such applications
Schottky Type
• A thin gold coating is
sputtered onto the N
material layer to form a
Schottky Effect P-N
junction. Since the
distance from the outer
surface to the junction is
small, ultraviolet
sensitivity is high
Av alanche Type
• If a reverse bias is applied to a P-N
junction and a high-field formed
within the depletion layer, photon
carriers will be accelerated by this
field.
• They will collide with atoms in the
field and secondary carriers are
produced, this process occurring
repeatedly.
• known as the avalanche effect
and, since it results in the signal
being amplified .
• this type of device is ideal for
detecting extremely low level light
 ELECTRICAL
CHARACTERISTICS
Photodiode Equivalent Circuit

IL = current generated by RS = series resistance

the incident light I’ = shunt resistance current
ID = diode current VD = voltage across the diode

CJ = junction capacitance Io = output current

RSH = shunt resistance Vo = output voltage

 Shunt Resistance
• Shunt resistance is used to determine the noise current in the
photodiode in photovoltaic mode.

• It is the slope of the current-voltage curve of the photodiode at

the origin.

• Ideal photodiode should have an infinite shunt resistance.

• Non-ideal photodiodes have typical values ranging from 10’s to

1000’s of Mega ohms.
 Series Resistance
• Series resistance is used to determine the linearity of the
photodiode in photovoltaic mode.

• Series resistance of a photodiode arises from the resistance of

the contacts and the resistance of the undepleted silicon is
given by:

• Ideal photodiodes have no series resistance

• Non-ideal photodiodes have typical values ranging from 10 to

1000 Ω.
 Junction Capacitance
• Junction capacitance is used to determine the speed of the
response of the photodiode.

• Junction capacitance is the capacitance that exist at PN

junction which is dependent on the thickness of depletion
region.

• The junction capacitance is directly proportional to the diffused

area and inversely proportional to the width of the depletion
region.

• Furthermore, the capacitance is dependent on the reverse bias

as follows:
 Response Time
• Response time is the certain amount of time to respond to a
sudden change in light levels.

• The response time is expressed in terms of the following:

• tR = Rise time
Rise time is the time required for the output to rise from 10% to
90% of its final value.

2. tF = Fall time
Fall time is the time required for the output to fall from 90% to
10% of its final value.
 Rise Time and Fall Time
• There are three factors defining the response time of a
photodiode:

• tDRIFT, the charge collection time of the carriers in the depleted

region of the photodiode.

• tDIFFUSED, the charge collection time of the carriers in the

undepleted region of the photodiode.

• tRC, the RC time constant of the diode-circuit combination.

tRC = 2.2RC
 Rise Time and Fall Time
• Total rise time is determined by:

• In photovoltaic mode, rise time is dominated by the diffusion

time for diffused areas less than 5mm2 and by RC time
constant.

• In fully depleted photoconductive mode, the dominant factor is

drift time.

• In non-fully depleted photoconductive mode, all the drift time,

diffused time and RC time constant contribute to the response
time.
OPTICAL CHARACTERISTICS
 Responsivity
• The responsivity of a silicon photodiode is a measure
of the sensitivity to light, and it is defined as the ratio
of the photocurrent IP to the incident light power P at a
given wavelength: R= Ip / P

• it is a measure of the effectiveness of the conversion

of the light power into electrical current.
A typical responsivity curve that shows A/W as a
function of wavelength is given below.
 Quantum Efficiency
• A photodiode's capability to convert light energy to
electrical energy, expressed as a percentage, is its
Quantum Efficiency, (Q.E.). The sensitivity of a
photodiode may also be expressed in practical units of
amps of photodiode current per watt of incident
illumination.
 Relationship of Responsivity and
Quantum Efficiency
• It is a measure of the effectiveness of the conversion of the
light power into electrical current. It is related to responsivity by:
Q.E= R observed
R ideal (100%)
= R hc
q
= 1.24 10^3 R
 Quantum Efficiency for a
Photodiode
• η ≡Number of corresponding electrons in the external circuit
Number of incident photons
• The quantum efficiency η is less than one because of:
a. Fresnel reflection at the photodiode surface
b. Absorption of photons in areas other than the depletion
region
c. Recombination in the depletion region
 Non- uniformity
• Non-Uniformity of response is defined as variations of
responsivity observed over the surface of the photodiode active
area with a small spot of light. Non-uniformity is inversely
proportional to spot size, larger non-uniformity for smaller spot
size.
• Accurate determination of the responsivity of silicon
photodiodes are highly desired in photometry. It affects power
measurements especially in photodiodes with large active
areas.
 Non- linearity
• Non-Linearity is the variation of the ratio of the change
in photocurrent to the same change in light power, i.e.
I/ P.
• The linearity exhibits the consistency of responsivity
over a range of light power.
• The lower limit of the photocurrent linearity is
determined by the noise current and the upper limit by
the series resistance and the load resistance.
 PHOTODIO DES
APPLIC ATIONS
Photodiodes are used in many different types of circuits and
applications. Here are a few examples of where photodiodes have been
used:

A handheld digital ambient light

meter, showing an f-stop of 5.6
for 24 frame/s 500 ISO filming
Med ical

A portable pulse oximeter

registering a satisfactory saturation
reading
Safety Equipment

A residential wall-mounted
smoke detector. The "test"
button is visible on the
lower part of the image.
Aut omo ti ve

Automatic Headlight
Dimmers
 Commu nic ati ons
1.) Optical Fiber - An optical fiber
(or fibre) is a glass or plastic fiber that
carries light along its length. Fiber
optics is the overlap of applied science
and engineering concerned with the
design and application of optical fibers.
Optical fibers are widely used in fiber-
optic communications, which permits
transmission over longer distances and
at higher bandwidths (data rates) than
other forms of communications. Fibers
are used instead of metal wires
because signals travel along them with
less loss, and they are also immune to
electromagnetic interference.

2.) Optical Communications

3.) Optical Remote Control A bundle of optical fibers
Industry

A typical handheld
barcode scanner