A large area (diameter > 200 micrometer) mesa type InGaAs/InAlAs avalanche photodiode with a novel surface passivation technique is proposed for photon counting at eye-safe wavelength of > 1.4 micrometer. The device is expected to exhibit high detection efficiency, low dark count rate with minimal afterpusling, due to the small k factor of InAlAs gain material and the unique mesa sidewall treatment. It should also have the improved reliability, suitable for a broad range of commercial applications. A fully packaged APD chip will be fabricated and tested in Geiger mode to demonstrate proof-of-concept.
Potential Commercial Applications: The high-performance, reliable, and cost-effective InGaAs/InAIAs APDs have applications in a large number of commercial markets, including telecommunications, remote sensing, quantum cryptography, time-resolved spectroscopy, three-dimensional imaging, and optical time-domain reflectometry
