Low-frequency noise behavior at reverse bias region in InAs/GaSb superlattice photodiodes on mid-wave infrared

We describe a relationship between the noise characterization and activation energy of InAs/GaSb superlattice Mid- Wavelength-Infrared photodiodes for different passivation materials applied to the device. The noise measurements exhibited a frequency dependent plateau (i.e. 1/f-noise characteristic) for unpassivated as well as Si3N4 passivated samples whereas 1/f-type low noise suppression (i.e. frequency independent plateau) with a noise current reduction of more than one order of magnitude was observed for SiO2 passivation. For reverse bias values below -0.15V, the classical Schottky-noise calculation alone did not appear to describe the noise mechanism in a SL noise behavior, which shows a divergence between theoretically and experimentally determined noise values. We identify that, the additional noise appears, with and without passivation, at the surface activation energy of < 60 meV and is inversely proportional to the reverse bias. This is believed to be caused by the surface dangling-bonds (as well as surface states) whose response is controlled by the applied reverse bias. The calculated noise characteristics showed a good agreement with the experimental data. © 2013 SPIE.