Comparison of the temperature dependence of impact ionization coefficients in AlAsSb, InAlAs, and InP

A series of AlAsSb p(+)-i-n(+) and n(+)-i-p(+) diodes with varying i-region thickness from 0.08 mu m to 1.55 mu m have been used to determine the temperature dependent impact ionization coefficients by performing avalanche multiplication measurements from 210K to 335K. The increase in electron and hole ionization coefficients as the temperature decreases is much smaller when compared to InAlAs and InP. This leads to a much smaller avalanche breakdown variation of 13mV/K in a 1.55 mu m p(+)-i-n(+) diode. For a 10Gb/s InGaAs/AlAsSb separate absorption and multiplication avalanche photodiode (SAM-APD), the variation in breakdown voltage is predicted to be only 15.58 mV/K.