Full band Monte Carlo simulation of AlInAsSb digital alloys

TL;DR

This paper uses full band Monte Carlo simulations to analyze impact ionization mechanisms in AlInAsSb digital alloys, revealing that conduction band mini-gaps do not hinder impact ionization, aligning well with experimental noise data.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive full band Monte Carlo simulation approach to study impact ionization in AlInAsSb digital alloys, clarifying the role of band structure features.

Findings

Mini-gaps in conduction band do not inhibit impact ionization.

Simulation results agree with measured noise characteristics.

Impact ionization mechanisms are influenced by band structure details.

Abstract

Avalanche photodiodes fabricated from AlInAsSb grown as a digital alloy exhibit low excess noise. In this paper, we investigate the band structure-related mechanisms that influence impact ionization. Band-structures calculated using an empirical tight-binding method and Monte Carlo simulations reveal that the mini-gaps in the conduction band do not inhibit electron impact ionization. Good agreement between the full band Monte Carlo simulations and measured noise characteristics is demonstrated.