Characterisation and comparison of failure modes in III-V avalanche photodiodes

To determine the reliability of III-V avalanche photodiodes, (APDs) for use in future telecommunications systems, devices from two commercial sources were characterised and subjected to thermally accelerated lifetests. A variety of nondestructive characterisation techniques were applied to unstressed and failed APDs. Results showed that the devices from one source failed by local avalanche breakdown in the InP capping layer, whereas devices from the other source had increases of unmultiplied dark current. >