A RESONANT-CAVITY, SEPARATE-ABSORPTION-AND-MULTIPLICATION, AVALANCHE PHOTODIODE WITH LOW EXCESS NOISE FACTOR

We report on the design, fabrication, and performance of a photodiode that combines the advantages of a resonant cavity with a separate-abso rption-and-multiplication avalanche photodiode. The device is grown on GaAs using molecular beam epitaxy and is designed to detect light nea r 900 nm, This photodetector has exhibited the following characteristi cs: an external quantum efficiency of 70%, a spectral linewidth of les s than 7 nm, an avalanche gain in excess of 30, and low dark current, In addition, a low excess noise factor corresponding to 0.2 less than or equal to k less than or equal to 0.3 has been achieved.