Comparison of different models of non-local impact ionization for low noise avalanche photodiodes

TL;DR

This paper compares three non-local impact ionization models for low noise avalanche photodiodes, finding they are largely similar except in specific cases with very soft dead space, and validating their effectiveness in noise factor calculations.

Contribution

It provides the first comprehensive comparison of three independently developed dead space impact ionization models for avalanche photodiodes.

Findings

Models are largely similar in fitting Monte Carlo data.

Liverpool model cannot fit data with very soft dead space.

Models produce similar excess noise factor calculations.

Abstract

The dead space model of non-local impact ionization has been developed independently by three different research groups in order to include a 'soft' dead space. This paper seeks to compare these models for the first time. The models are fitted to Monte Carlo simulation data and it is found that there are no significant differences between the models except that the Liverpool model cannot be used to fit one data set which has a very soft dead space. Likewise the models give very similar results when used to calculate the excess noise factor for low noise avalanche photodiodes.