Excess noise in silicon avalanche photodiodes

Abstract

The mean avalanche gain and the excess noise factor are important parameters characterizing the performance of an Avalanche Photodiode. These parameters vary with electric field strength and the position of the primary electron-hole pairs generated in the APD depletion layer. In the present paper, the mean avalanche gain and the excess noise properties have been investigated for the Hamamatsu S8148 APD structure for different distribution of photo-generated electron-hole pairs in the depletion region, Calculations were made with a Single Particle Monte Carlo simulation technique. Based on this work, the performance of the Hamamatsu S8148 APD as a photodetector for the PbWO4 scintillation light has been discussed.