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US 5,288,989 AGranted
Avalanche photodiode with moisture resistant passivation coating disposed to cover the outer periphery of the photodiode body except at a selected top contact area
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsA. Nadeem Ishaque, Robert F. Kwasnick
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An avalanche photodiode (APD) has a two tier passivation layer disposed over the silicon APD body. The passivation layer includes an inorganic moisture barrier layer and an organic dielectric layer. The inorganic material forming this layer is preferably silicon nitride or silicon oxide, and the organic dielectric material is a polyimide or benzocyclobutene.
Claims12
An avalanche photodiode (APD) comprising:
- an APD body comprising a photosensitive semiconductive material, a portion of said semiconductive material being doped to exhibit n type conductivity so as to form a first semiconductive layer, a further portion of said semiconductive material being doped to exhibit p type conductivity so as to form a second semiconductive layer, said first and second semiconductive layer being disposed adjacent to one another so as to form a p-n junction, said APD body further having top and bottom surfaces disposed opposite one another and beveled sidewalls extending from said top surface and terminating at an arcuate shaped portion in the vicinity of said p-n junction;
- a bottom contact pad disposed in electrical contact with one surface of said APD body;
- a top contact having a selected contact area disposed in electrical contact with an opposite surface of said APD body;
- and
- a passivation layer disposed over said APD body so as to cover said sidewalls and top surfaces of said APD body except at said selected contact area, said passivation layer comprising:
- an organic dielectric layer;
- and
- an inorganic moisture barrier layer.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.