Characteristics of a planar InP/InGaAs avalanche photodiode with a thin multiplication layer

We present a simple fabrication method for and the characteristics of a high speed InGaAs/InP avalanche photodiode (APD) with one floating guard ring. The APD structure that we propose consists of InP multiplication layer with a greatly reduced width and a highly doped electric field buffer layer, We also adopted a floating guard ring and a shaped main junction with recess etching for reliable operation of the APD. A long lifetime, exceeding ∼10 ⁹ hours, was estimated from accelerated life tests. Also, reliable operation in the device center region was examined by measuring the two-dimensional gain, The gain and bandwidth product of the APDs was measured to be as high as 80 GHz.