AVALANCHE PHOTODIODE (APD)

A photodiode that operates with a reverse- bias voltage that causes the primary photocurrent to undergo amplification by cumulative multiplication of charge carriers. Note: As the reverse-bias voltage increases toward the breakdown, hole-electron pairs are created by absorbed photons. An avalanche effect occurs when the hole-electron pairs acquire sufficient energy to create additional pairs when the incident photons collide with the ions, i.e., the holes and electrons. Thus, a signal gain is achieved. [After 2196 ]