An Efficient and Comprehensive Timing Jitter Model for Single Photon Avalanche Diodes

In this article, we propose an efficient and comprehensive timing jitter model for single photon avalanche diodes (SPADs). The statistics of the avalanche build-up, avalanche spread, and neutral region carrier transport time are fully considered in the model. The simulation of avalanche multiplication combines 1-D avalanche build-up and 2-D avalanche spread models to ensure the integrity of the avalanche physical process. Certain crucial parameters in the model are sourced from reliable TCAD simulation results, thus ensuring the accuracy and validity of the proposed approach. In addition, an efficient transport time TCAD simulation process without external solving of complex systems of partial differential equations is innovatively proposed. An SPAD based on a 130-nm complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) process was manufactured, and a 793-nm 50-fs Ti-sapphire laser was used to test the SPAD timing response to obtain an accurate timing jitter. The simulated and experimental timing jitter results were in accordance with each other. The model provides a reliable way to evaluate the timing performance during SPAD design and optimization.