Light-receiving device and method for producing the same

Abstract

A light-receiving device includes a light-receiving layer having an undoped multi-quantum well structure; a cap layer disposed on the light-receiving layer, the cap layer including a semiconductor layer doped with a p-type impurity; a mesa structure including the cap layer; a p-type region extending from the p-type semiconductor layer toward the light-receiving layer, the p-type region including the p-type impurity diffused from the semiconductor layer in the mesa structure; a p-n junction formed at an end of the p-type region; and an electrode disposed on the cap layer of the mesa structure. The mesa structure is defined by a trench surrounding the mesa. The trench has a bottom that reaches the vicinity of an upper surface of the light-receiving layer. The p-n junction is located in the light-receiving layer or at the boundary between the light-receiving layer and the cap layer disposed on the light-receiving layer.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]1. Field of the Invention[0002]The present invention relates to a light-receiving device and a method for producing the same.[0003]2. Description of the Related Art[0004]Living bodies, such as animals and plants, and substances, such as gases associated with the environment, have the characteristics of absorbing specific light in the infrared region including the near-infrared light with a wavelength of about 2 μm to 10 μm. In order to detect the absorption spectra of the substances such as gases associated with environments or organisms such as animals and plants, infrared light-receiving devices and infrared sensing devices including such infrared light-receiving devices are under development. In particular, in the near-infrared to infrared region, the photosensitivity to long-wavelength light is being improved. Here, the infrared light-receiving devices include a light-receiving layer composed of a III-V group compound semiconductor. In the light-...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0006]However, the planar-type photodiode formed by selective diffusion has problems described below.(1) When the light-receiving devices are formed on a large-diameter wafer, production efficiency can be enhanced. However, it is difficult to uniformly perform selective diffusion over the large-diameter wafer.(2) If a region in which impurity is not diffused is not sufficiently ensured, it is difficult to separate pixels. Therefore, the region in which impurity is not diffused is formed with a sufficient area between the pixels for reliably separating the pixels. As a result, the area fraction of an opening or selectively diffused region occupying an incident surface (that is, so-called “fill factor”) is reduced. Thus, sensitivity improvement is limited. In another respect, an increase in pixel pitch density is limited.

[0007]The mesa-type photodiodes have the advantage of having larger fill factors than the planar-type photodiodes. The mesa-type photodiodes have another advantage of having excellent controllability of positions of p-n junctions because p-n junctions are formed by epitaxial growth. The deviation of positions of p-n junctions changes the dependence of sensitivity and response speed on bias voltage, thus affecting the stability of properties of the photodiodes.

[0008]However, the mesa-type photodiode has a large leakage current that flows on a side surface of a mesa structure because of the exposure of a p-n junction at the side surface of the mesa structure. The leakage current causes the dark current of the photodiode. In particular, when the mesa structure is formed by dry etching, crystal damage occurs due to dry etching. The crystal damage due to dry etching tends to cause an increase in dark current. In general, dark current in the photodiode is required to be minimized. In order to reduce the dark current of a light-receiving device (photodiode), the light-receiving device may be cooled. Thus, a cooling mechanism, such as a Peltier element, may be provided to cool the light-receiving device. However, a light-receiving device having a cooling mechanism has demerits of increasing the device size and producing cost, for example. Therefore, a light-receiving element having a structure without a cooling mechanism, the structure by itself is a big feature of the light-receiving device. Even if a cooling mechanism is required, a low level of dark current makes it possible to reduce a cooling performance of the cooling mechanism, thereby reducing, for example, the size and cost of the cooling mechanism and the light-receiving device. It is thus important to form a mesa structure in which an edge of a p-n junction is not exposed to the atmosphere in order to reduce the dark current.

Problems solved by technology

However, the planar-type photodiode formed by selective diffusion has problems described below.

However, it is difficult to uniformly perform selective diffusion over the large-diameter wafer.

(2) If a region in which impurity is not diffused is not sufficiently ensured, it is difficult to separate pixels.

Thus, sensitivity improvement is limited.

In another respect, an increase in pixel pitch density is limited.

The deviation of positions of p-n junctions changes the dependence of sensitivity and response speed on bias voltage, thus affecting the stability of properties of the photodiodes.

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