NEWS APD & SPAD DEVICES
New generation of APD
and SPAD devices
X-FAB ANNOUNCES ENHANCEMENTS TO ITS 180NM
APD AND SPAD DEVICES. NEIL TYLER REPORTS
X-FAB Silicon Foundries, the
specialty foundry for analogue/
mixed-signal and optoelectronic
solutions, has introduced its
latest generation of avalanche
photodiode (APD) and singlephoton
avalanche diode (SPAD)
devices.
These new APDs and
SPADs bene t from innovative
architectural modi cations, with
substantial improvements in
performance exhibited compared
with the company’s earlier
devices. Footprint compatibility
with the previous generation,
however, has been retained
which means that a simple
and convenient upgrade path
is possible, with no additional
engineering work being required.
The boost in performance
is most noticeable in relation
to photon detection probability
(PDP). There is a 42% PDP gure
for incident light at 405 nm, while
further up the spectrum in the
near-infrared (NIR) frequencies
the improvement is as much
as 150%, with a 5% PDP being
demonstrated at 850 nm.
An after-pulsing probability of
0.9% has been achieved which
represents a 70% reduction
compared to the rst-generation
devices. The dark count rate
(DCR) is only 13 counts/s/μm.
The ll factor (the percentage
of these sensors’ surface area
that is active) which can now be
supported has almost doubled –
reaching 33%.
X-FAB has also incorporated
a trigger diode – which allows
precise, real-time on-chip
breakdown voltage detection
without an external light source.
Active quenching circuitry
is included, through which the
rate at which the SPAD devices
recover can be accelerated,
allowing them to be made
ready for further light detection.
The new SPADs offer better
application adaptation due to
their size exibility. First-time-right
design is supported by complete
device models for the SPAD and
APD devices. The behaviour of
the new built-in trigger diodes is
included in the model.
“Thanks to the combination
of elevated PDP and competitive
DCR levels, we are presenting
the market with APD/SPAD
solutions that have impressive
signal integrity characteristics,
which will directly bene t our
customers for applications
like computer tomography and
uorescence detection within
the medical sector, as well
for time-of- ight and LiDAR
in industrial and automotive
systems,” said Detlef Sommer,
Business Line Manager for Opto
Technologies at X-FAB.
Crypto Quantique
secures IoT
Bill of Materials in minutes
Anglia Components has
introduced BOM+, a new feature
for Anglia Live which will allow
customers to upload a Bill of
Materials (BOM) and get a volume
quote in a matter of minutes.
According to Anglia it is
now possible to cross reference
the manufacturer and industry
recognised part numbers, a
feature that it says is unique to
this platform.
The software supporting BOM+
has been developed in-house and
is intended to be easy to use and
customer-friendly. There is no
template speci ed so customers
can enter data in their own format
and no le sorting or adaptation is
required. Anglia BOM+ is able to
work with Excel and other popular
le formats, and accepts data
as the customer has entered it,
providing an immediate volume
quote.
BOM+ is able to price up
the quantities speci ed at the
customer’s contract price or the
appropriate price break, whichever
is more economical. It will then
ag up opportunities to reduce the
unit price by increasing the order
quantity on speci ed line items.
Commenting Steve Rawlins,
CEO, Anglia, said, “BOM+ is
a world leading product from
Anglia. It offers more exibility
and information far quicker than
any similar tool in the industry.
Customers can now get an
instant quote from Anglia that
fully re ects the volume that they
are sourcing and any discount
structure or negotiated pricing
they have in place with us.
“BOM+ can accept most
popular le formats using the
customer’s preferred layout. In
short, we’ve cut out the fuss in
getting a Bill of Materials fully
costed.”
Crypto Quantique, a specialist in
quantum-driven cybersecurity for
the IoT, has made its universal IoT
security platform, QuarkLink, available
to semiconductor manufacturers and
systems integrators.
QuarkLink can be used by
companies that use root-of-trust
(RoT) solutions of their own, or those
sourced from other vendors.
The platform was originally
designed to work with Crypto
Quantique’s own quantum-derived
root-of-trust IP, called QDID.
The QuarkLink platform’s
capabilities have been designed to
be far more comprehensive than
typical key management services. It is
able to handle provisioning, including
secure rmware and cryptographic
keys, automated secure on-boarding,
and security monitoring, including
rmware encryption, signing and
secure updates over-the-air, and
certi cate and key renewal and
revocation.
With some RoTs, including QDID,
QuarkLink eliminates the need for
hardware security modules (HSMs)
and key injection, saving cost and
time, while increasing security.
QuarkLink can be set up in a
few minutes by engineers without
specialist IoT security knowledge.
End-point devices are then connected
to servers through cryptographic APIs,
using just a few keystrokes to initiate
an automated process capable of
on-boarding thousands of devices in
seconds to a server platform, or to
multiple platforms simultaneously.
QDID generates random,
unforgeable cryptographic keys ondemand
in silicon by measuring
the quantum effects in chips
manufactured on standard CMOS
processes.
8 9 February 2021 www.newelectronics.co.uk
/www.newelectronics.co.uk