Local avalanche photodetectors driven by lightning-rod effect and surface plasmon excitations
Sensitive avalanche photodetectors (APDs) that operate within the ultraviolet spectrum are critically required for applications in detecting fire and deep-space exploration. However, the development of such devices faces significant challenges, including high avalanche breakdown voltage, the necessity for complex quenching circuits, and thermal runaway associated with Geiger-mode avalanche operation. To mitigate these issues, we report on a 4H-SiC APD design utilizing micro-holes (MHs) structures and Al nano-triangles (NTs) to enhance surface electric field driven by strong localized surface plasmon excitations and lightning-rod effect. The device demonstrates a low avalanche breakdown voltage of approximately 14.5 V, a high detectivity of 2 × 10<sup>13</sup> Jones, a nanosecond-level response time, and repeated stable detections without the requirement of a quenching circuit. Collectively, when compared with the conventional wide-bandgap-based APDs, this device achieves a reduction in avalanche breakdown voltage by an order of magnitude. Consequently, the proposed APD configuration presents a promising candidate for ultraviolet detection and integrated optoelectronic circuits.
Authors
- Deyi Fu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1365-8963)
- Xiaping Chen
- Zhao Fu
- Yuning Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2213-2859)
- Dingqu Lin
- Zhanwei Shen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4693-2503)
- Jiafa Cai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7599-0852)
- Jia‐Bao Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9620-7692)
- Rongdun Hong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4176-8465)
- Yuan Meng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5409-5610)
- Zhengyun Wu
- Feng Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1163-2498)
- Zhijie Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3216-8620)
- Rong Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0015-6331)
- Jicheng Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2814-2302)
- Zhilin Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4799-1492)
- Mingkun Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-4954-1290)
- Shaoxiong Wu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9388-6239)
Institutions
- Jiangnan University (CN)
- Jiujiang University (CN)
- Xiamen University (CN)
- State Key Laboratory on Integrated Optoelectronics (CN)
- Institute of Semiconductors (CN)
- Tongling University (CN)
- Xiamen University of Technology (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2025-12-03
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-66790-w
- Primary Topic
- Advanced Optical Sensing Technologies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- National Key Research and Development Program of China