Local Avalanche Effect of 4H-SiC p-i-n Ultraviolet Photodiodes With Periodic Micro-Hole Arrays

In this report, 4H-SiC p-i-n photodiodes with various micro-hole arrays are fabricated, then measured and discussed by using photoelectric measurement system and simulation software. Periodic micro-hole arrays etched from p layer to i layer are obtained by using the selective etching technology, which increases the photosensitive area of devices and reduces the ultraviolet light absorption of p layer. The average dark current of devices has an ultralow value of approximate $6.0\times 10 ^{-15}$ A in the low reverse bias range of 0–10 V. Furthermore, the device with $4 ~\mu \text{m}$ micro-hole exhibits the best performance and its peak responsivity increased by 10.4 % compared to the conventional device. It is significant that the peak responsivity and corresponding external quantum efficiency of devices with $4 ~\mu \text{m}$ micro-hole at 40 V bias are 815 % and 819 % higher than those of devices without micro-hole, respectively. This is attribute to the fact that a high electric field is observed around the micro-holes as the reverse bias increased to 40 V, which leads to local avalanche. Thus, the local avalanche photodiodes work at a relatively low bias, which improved the responsivity and quantum efficiency of the device enormously.