NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland

The proposed device is capable of counting ultraviolet (UV) photons, is compatible for inclusion into space instruments, and has applications as deep-UV detectors for calibration systems, curing systems, and crack detection. The device is based on a Separate Absorption and Charge Multiplication (SACM) structure. It is based on aluminum gallium nitride (AlGaN) absorber on a silicon carbide APD (avalanche photodiode). The AlGaN layer absorbs incident UV photons and injects photogenerated carriers into an underlying SiC APD that is operated in Geiger mode and provides current multiplication via avalanche breakdown.