Qucs

A Report
Compact Verilog-A pn junction photodiode model

Mike Brinson

Copyright
c 2008 Mike Brinson <mbrin72043@yahoo.co.uk>

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the
terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or any later version
published by the Free Software Foundation. A copy of the license is included in
the section entitled ”GNU Free Documentation License”.
Introduction
Optoelectronic devices are not included in Qucs version 0.0.14 or earlier releases
of the software. With the growing importance of these devices, and indeed the
fact that they are present in an increasing number of electronic systems, this is a
significant omission. This report presents the structure and physical details of a
Qucs implementation of a pn junction photodiode model. The photodiode model
is the first in a planned series of Verilog-a compact device models for optoelectronic
components. The report also introduces the concept of a light bus and shows how
light paths can be added to Qucs simulation schematics. A number of example
schematics are also included in the report to demonstrate the performance of the
new Verilog-A pn junction photodiode model. The background to the work out-
lined in this report was first published in the International Journal of Numerical
Modelling: Electronic Networks, Devices and Fields in September 20081 .

pn junction photodiode effects modelled

The Qucs pn junction photodiode model includes the following features:
• Diode photocurrent response characteristics expressed as a function of light
power and wavelength.

• Diode DC I-V characteristics in the forward and reverse bias regions including
avalanche breakdown in reverse bias.

• Diode bias dependent capacitance.

• Diode shunt resistance.

• Diode package series resistance.

• Device noise, including thermal, shot, flicker and quantum contributions.

The Qucs pn junction photodiode model

The schematic capture symbol and equivalent electrical circuit for the Qucs pn
junction photodiode is shown in Fig. 1. In this model the DC properties and ca-
pacitance of the photodiode are represented by a semiconductor diode with a par-
allel shunt resistance Rsh. Device lead resistance is represented by series resistance
1
Brinson M.E. and Jahn S., Qucs: A GPL software package for circuit simulation, compact
device modelling and circuit macromodelling from DC to RF and beyond, published online, 5
September 2008, http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/121397825/abstract.

1
Rseries_area. A voltage-controlled current source models the diode photocurrent.
The gain of the controlled source is set as the responsivity of the photodiode. The
equivalent circuit shown in Fig. 1(c) presents the complete photodiode model with
thermal, shot and flicker noise sources included. One interesting, and unusual,
feature of the Qucs photodiode noise model is the inclusion of quantum shot noise,
modelled by noise current source Ilightn. Photocurrent Ilight is given by

Ilight = Light · Responsivity (1)

where Light is the optical signal in W and Responsivity is the the spectral re-
sponsivity in A/W. Responsivity can also be written in terms of the photodiode
quantum efficiency given by.
QE · q · λ QEpercent · λ
Responsivity = = (2)
h·c 1.2398e5
where QE is the photodiode quantum efficiency, λ is the light wavelength in nm, h
is Plank’s constant, c is the speed of light in a vacuum, and QEpercent is the quan-
tum efficiency given in percentage. In Fig. 1 the optical signal path is shown as
a green line connected at the side of the photodiode symbol. In Qucs simulations
optical signals are modelled as voltage quantities expressed as real numbers, even
though they represent a power quantity, and are shown on a schematic as green
connecting lines between components. This has the effect of clearly identifying
optical signal paths on a schematic, when compared to the blue lines which indi-
cate connecting wires characterised by conventional current and voltage signals.
Similarly, signal sources which input light to a circuit are coloured green, see later
example simulations.

2
 PD1
Anode
N=1.35
Light (a) Rseries=1e-3
Cathode Is=0.34e-12
Bv=60
Ibv=1e-3
Anode
Vj=0.7
R=Rseries_area Cj0=60e-12
M=0.5
G=Responsivity Area=1.0
Tnom=26.85
R=Rsh
Ilight (b) Fc=0.5
Tt=10e-9
Xti=3.0
Light
Cathode Eg=1.16
Responsivity=0.5
Anode Rsh=5e8
QEpercent=80
Lambda=900
LEVEL=1
i=IRseries_arean (c) Kf=1e-12
R=Rseries_area
Af=1.0
G=Responsivity
Ffe=1.0
i=Ilightn I=Id C=Cd i=Idsn i=Idfn R=Rsh i=IRshn Temp=26.85
Ilight

Light
Cathode

Figure 1: Qucs pn junction photodiode model: (a) schematic capture symbol, (b)
basic model circuit, (c) full equivalent circuit, including noise

Photodiode parameters

Name Symbol Description Unit Default

N N photodiode emission coefficient 1.35
Rseries Rseries series lead resistance Ω 1e − 3
Is Is diode dark current A 0.34e − 12
Bv Bv reverse breakdown voltage V 60.0
Ibv Ns current at reverse breakdown voltage A 1e − 3
Vj Vj junction potential V 0.7
Cj0 Cj0 zero bias junction capacitance F 60e − 12
M M grading coefficient 0.5
Area Area diode relative area 1
Tnom T nom parameter measurement temperature ◦C 26.85
Fc Fc forward-bias depletion capacitance coefficient 0.5
Tt Tt transit time s 10e − 9
Xti Xti saturation current temperature exponent 3.0
Eg Eg energy gap eV 1.16
Responsivity Responsivity responsivity A/W 0.5
Rsh Rsh shunt resistance Ω 5e8
QEpercent QEpercent quantum efficiency % 80.0
Lambda Lambda light wavelength nm 900.0
LEVEL responsivity calculator selector∗ 1
Kf KF flicker noise coefficient 1e − 12
Af Af flicker noise exponent 1.0
Ffe F fe flicker noise frequency exponent 1.0
Temp T emp device temperature ◦C 26.85

∗ Parameter LEVEL is used to select how the photodiode Responsivity is determined: with LEVEL = 1 the
model uses the listed value of parameter Responsivity or calculates it’s value if QEpercent is not equal to zero;
with LEVEL = 2 Responsivity is always calculated using QEpercent.

pn junction photodiode model

3 equations
• Basic semiconductor DC characteristics
Id = I1 + I2 + I3 + I4 (3)
Where
   
Vd
1. I1 = Area · Is(T 2) · limexp − 1 +V d · GM IN ∀ (V d > −5 · N · V t)
N · V t(T 2)
2. I2 = −Area · Is(T 2)+V d · GM IN ∀ (−Bv < V d) and (V d > −5 · N · V t)
 dQdif f dId
1. Cdif f = = Tt·
dV d dV d
 −M
dQdep Vd
2. Cdep = = Area · Cj0 · 1 −
dV d Vj
where Qd = Qdep + Qdif f , and
(  1−M )
Area · Cj0 · V j Vd
Qd = T t · Id+ · 1− 1− ∀ (V d < F c · V j)
1−M Vj
    
1 M
· V d2 − (F c · V j)2
 
Qd = T t · Id+Area · Cj0 · F1 + · F 3 · (V d − F c · V j) +
F2 2·V j

∀ (V d >= F c · V j)
Where
Vj h i
F1 = · 1 − (1 − F c)1−M
1−M
F 2 = [1 − F c]1+M
F 3 = 1 − F c · (1 + M )
and GMIN = 1e-12S.

• Diode area factors

1. Is_area = Is · Area
2. Cjo_area = Cj0 · Area
Rseries
3. Rseries_area =
Area
• Diode temperature factors

  Xti   
T2 N −Eg(T 1) T2
1. Is(T 2) = Is · · limexp · 1−
T1 V t(T 2) T1
 1.5  
T2 T2 T2
2. V j(T 2) = · V j−2 · V t(T 2) · ln − · Eg(T 1) − Eg(T 2)
T1 T1 T1
  
V j(T 2)
3. Cj0(T 2) = Cj0 · 1 + M · 400e − 6 · (T 2 − T 1) −
Vj
Where
T 1 = T nom + 273.15, T 2 = T emp + 273.15
7.02e − 4 · T 2
Eg(T ) = EG(0) −
1108 + T

4
 K ·T1 K ·T2
Vt = , V t(T 2) = and K and q have their usual mean-
q q
ing.

• Diode photocurrent

Ilight = Light · Responsivity (5)

QE · q · λ QEpercent · λ
Where Responsivity = =
h·c 1.2398e55
• photodiode noise

Ipd_noise2 = IRshn2 · ∆f + Idsn2 · ∆f + Idf n2 · ∆f + Ilightn2 · ∆f (6)

4·K ·T Kf · IdAf
Where IRshn2 = , Idsn2 = 2 · q · Id, Idf n2 = ,
Rsh f F fe
Ilight2 = 2 · q · Ilight, and ∆f is the noise frequency bandwidth in Hz.

Verilog-A model code

// Qucs compact p h o t o d i o d e model
// The s t r u c t u r e and t h e o r e t i c a l b a c k g r o u n d t o t h e p h o t o d i o d e
// V e r i l o g −a model a r e p r e s e n t e d i n t h e Qucs p h o t o d i o d e r e p o r t .
//
// This i s f r e e s o f t w a r e ; you can r e d i s t r i b u t e i t and/ or modify
// i t under t h e terms o f t h e GNU General P u b l i c L i c e n s e as p u b l i s h e d by
// t h e Free S o f t w a r e Foundation ; e i t h e r v e r s i o n 2 , or ( a t your o p t i o n )
// any l a t e r v e r s i o n .
//
// C o p y r i g h t (C) , Mike Brinson , mbrin72043@yahoo . co . uk , Oc t ob e r 2 0 0 8 .
//
‘ i n c l u d e ” d i s c i p l i n e s . vams ”
‘ i n c l u d e ” c o n s t a n t s . vams ”
module p h o t o d i o d e ( Anode , Cathode , L i g h t ) ;
inout Anode , Cathode , L i g h t ;
e l e c t r i c a l Anode , Cathode , L i g h t ;
e l e c t r i c a l n1 ;
‘define a t t r ( txt ) (∗ txt ∗)
//
parameter r e a l N=1.35 from [ 1 e −6: i n f ]
‘ a t t r ( i n f o=” p h o t o d i o d e e m i s s i o n c o e f f i c i e n t ” ) ;
parameter r e a l R s e r i e s =1e−3 from [ 1 e −6: i n f ]
‘ a t t r ( i n f o=” s e r i e s l e a d r e s i s t a n c e ” u n i t = ”Ohm” ) ;
parameter r e a l I s =0.34 e −12 from [ 1 e −20: i n f ]
‘ a t t r ( i n f o=” d i o d e dark c u r r e n t ” u n i t=”A” ) ;
parameter r e a l Bv=60 from [ 1 e −6: i n f ]
‘ a t t r ( i n f o=” r e v e r s e breakdown v o l t a g e ” u n i t=”V” ) ;
parameter r e a l Ibv=1e−3 from [ 1 e −6: i n f ]

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 ‘ a t t r ( i n f o=” c u r r e n t a t r e v e r s e breakdown v o l t a g e ” u n i t=”A” ) ;
parameter r e a l Vj =0.7 from [ 1 e −6: i n f ]
‘ a t t r ( i n f o=” j u n c t i o n p o t e n t i a l ” u n i t=”V” ) ;
parameter r e a l Cj0=60e −12 from [ 0 : i n f ]
‘ a t t r ( i n f o=” z e r o −b i a s j u n c t i o n c a p a c i t a n c e ” u n i t=”F” ) ;
parameter r e a l M=0.5 from [ 1 e −6: i n f ]
‘ a t t r ( i n f o=” g r a d i n g c o e f f i c i e n t ” ) ;
parameter r e a l Area =1.0 from [ 1 . 0 : i n f ]
‘ a t t r ( i n f o=” d i o d e r e l a t i v e a r e a ” ) ;
parameter r e a l Tnom=26.85 from [ − 2 7 3 : i n f ]
‘ a t t r ( i n f o=”p a r a m e t e r measurement t e m p e r a t u r e ” u n i t=” C e l s i u s ” ) ;
parameter r e a l Fc =0.5 from [ 1 e −6: i n f ]
‘ a t t r ( i n f o=”forward −b i a s d e p l e t i o n c a p c i t a n c e c o e f f i c i e n t ” ) ;
parameter r e a l Tt=10e−9 from [ 1 e −20: i n f ]
‘ a t t r ( i n f o=” t r a n s i t time ” u n i t=”s ” ) ;
parameter r e a l X t i =3.0 from [ 1 e −6: i n f ]
‘ a t t r ( i n f o=” s a t u r a t i o n c u r r e n t t e m p e r a t u r e exponent ” ) ;
parameter r e a l Eg= 1 . 1 6 from [ 1 e −6: i n f ]
‘ a t t r ( i n f o=” e n e r g y gap ” u n i t=”eV ” ) ;
parameter r e a l R e s p o n s i v i t y =0.5 from [ 1 e −6: i n f ]
‘ a t t r ( i n f o=” r e s p o n s i v i t y ” u n i t=”A/W” ) ;
parameter r e a l Rsh=5e8 from [ 1 e −6: i n f ]
‘ a t t r ( i n f o=”shunt r e s i s t a n c e ” u n i t=”Ohm” ) ;
parameter r e a l QEpercent=80 from [ 0 : 1 0 0 ]
‘ a t t r ( i n f o=”quantum e f f i c i e n c y ” u n i t=”%” ) ;
parameter r e a l Lambda=900 from [ 1 0 0 : 2 0 0 0 ]
‘ a t t r ( i n f o=” l i g h t w a v e l e n g t h ” u n i t=”nm” ) ;
parameter integer LEVEL=1 from [ 1 : 2 ]
‘ a t t r ( i n f o=” r e s p o n s i v i t y c a l c u l a t o r s e l e c t o r ” ) ;
parameter r e a l Kf=1e −12 from [ 0 : i n f ]
‘ a t t r ( i n f o=” f l i c k e r n o i s e c o e f f i c i e n t ” ) ;
parameter r e a l Af =1.0 from [ 0 : i n f ]
‘ a t t r ( i n f o=” f l i c k e r n o i s e exponent ” ) ;
parameter r e a l F f e =1.0 from [ 0 : i n f ]
‘ a t t r ( i n f o=” f l i c k e r n o i s e f r e q u e n c y exponent ” ) ;
//
r e a l A, B, T1 , T2 , F1 , F2 , F3 , R s e r i e s A r e a , Eg T1 , Eg T2 ,
r e a l Vt T2 , Vj T2 , Cj0 T2 , Is T2 , GMIN;
r e a l I1 , I2 , I3 , I4 , I5 , Id , V1 , Q1 , Q2 , f o u r k t , TwoQ, Res1 ,
r e a l Res2 , Res , Vt , I f l i c k e r ;
r e a l con1 , con2 , con3 , con4 , con5 , con6 ;
// Model b r a n c h e s
branch ( Anode , n1 ) b6 ;
branch ( n1 , Cathode ) b1 ;
//
a n a l o g begin
// Model e q u a t i o n s
@( i n i t i a l s t e p )
begin
R s e r i e s A r e a =( R s e r i e s +1e −10)/ Area ;
A=7.02 e −4;
B= 1 1 0 8 . 0 ;
T1=Tnom+ 2 7 3 . 1 5 ;
T2=$ t e m p e r a t u r e ;
Vt=‘P K ∗ 3 0 0 . 0 / ‘P Q ;
Vt T2=‘P K ∗T2/ ‘P Q ;
F1=(Vj/(1−M))∗(1 −pow((1 −Fc ) ,(1 −M) ) ) ;
F2=pow((1 −Fc ) , (1+M) ) ;
F3=1−Fc∗(1+M) ;
Eg T1=Eg−A∗T1∗T1 / (B+T1 ) ;
Eg T2=Eg−A∗T2∗T2 / (B+T2 ) ;
Vj T2=(T2/T1 ) ∗ Vj−2∗ $ v t ∗ l n ( pow ( ( T2/T1 ) , 1 . 5 ) ) − ( ( T2/T1 ) ∗ Eg T1−Eg T2 ) ;

6
 GMIN=1e −12;
Cj0 T2=Cj0 ∗(1+M∗ ( 4 0 0 e −6∗(T2−T1) −( Vj T2−Vj ) / Vj ) ) ;
I s T 2=I s ∗pow ( ( T2/T1 ) , ( X t i /N) ) ∗ l i m e x p ( −(Eg T1 ) / $ v t ∗(1−T2/T1 ) ) ;
Res1=(QEpercent != 0 ) ? QEpercent ∗Lambda / 1 . 2 3 9 8 e5 : R e s p o n s i v i t y ;
Res2=QEpercent ∗Lambda / 1 . 2 9 3 8 e5 ;
Res=(LEVEL==1) ? Res1 : Res2 ;
con1 =−5.0∗N∗Vt ;
con2=Area ∗ I s T 2 ;
con3=Area ∗ Cj0 T2 ;
con4=Fc∗ Vj ;
con5=Fc∗ Vj T2 ;
con6=Bv/ Vt T2 ;
end ;
// Current c o n t r i b u t i o n s
V1=V( b1 ) ;
I 1 =(V1 > con1 ) ? con2 ∗ ( l i m e x p (V1/ (N∗Vt T2 )) −1.0)+GMIN∗V1 : 0 ;
I 2 =(V1 <= con1 ) ? −con2+GMIN∗V1 : 0 ;
I 3 =(V1 == −Bv)?− Ibv : 0 ;
I 4 =(V1<−Bv)?− con2 ∗ ( l i m e x p ( −(Bv+V1) / Vt T2)−1.0+ con6 ) : 0 ;
Q1=(V1<con4 ) ? Tt∗ I 1 + con3 ∗ ( Vj T2 /(1−M))∗(1 −pow((1 −V1/ Vj T2 ) ,(1 −M) ) ) : 0 ;
Q2=(V1>=con4 ) ? Tt∗ I 1 + con3 ∗ ( F1+(1/F2 ) ∗ ( F3 ∗ (V1−con5)+
(M/ ( 2 . 0 ∗ Vj T2 ) ) ∗ ( V1∗V1−con5 ∗ con5 ) ) ) : 0 ;
I 5=V( L i g h t ) ∗ Res ;
I d=I 1+I 2+I 3+I 4 ;
I ( b1 ) <+ −I 5 ;
I ( b1 ) <+ V( b1 ) / Rsh ;
I ( b6)<+V( b6 ) / R s e r i e s A r e a ;
I ( b1)<+I d ;
I ( b1)<+ddt (Q1+Q2 ) ;
I ( L i g h t)<+V( L i g h t ) / 1 e10 ;
// Noise c o n t r i b u t i o n s
f o u r k t =4.0∗ ‘P K ∗ $ t e m p e r a t u r e ;
TwoQ=2.0∗ ‘P Q ;
I f l i c k e r =pow ( Id , Af ) ;
I ( b6)<+ w h i t e n o i s e ( f o u r k t / R s e r i e s A r e a , ”t h e r m a l ” ) ;
I ( b1)<+ w h i t e n o i s e ( f o u r k t /Rsh , ”t h e r m a l ” ) ;
I ( b1)<+ w h i t e n o i s e (TwoQ∗ Id , ” s h o t ” ) ;
I ( b1)<+ f l i c k e r n o i s e ( Kf∗ I f l i c k e r , Ffe , ” f l i c k e r ” ) ;
I ( b1)<+ w h i t e n o i s e (TwoQ∗ I5 , ” s h o t ” ) ;
//
end
endmodule

7
Example photodiode circuits

PD1
QEpercent=0
V1
Light_Const1 Ipd
U=Vpd
Light_Power=PLS

dc simulation Parameter Parameter

sweep sweep
DC1
SW1 SW2
Sim=DC1 Sim=SW1
Type=lin Type=lin
Param=Vpd Param=PLS
Start=-5 Start=0
Stop=0.85 Stop=40m
Points=121 Points=10

0.02
Ipd (A)

-0.02
-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1
Vpd (V)

P_light1

V2
Light_Const2 U=Light_Power
Light_Power=1m

Figure 2: Basic photodiode test circuit for simulating device output current as a
function of light input level and applied DC bias

8
 PD1
P1
Light_Const1 X1 V1 Num=1
Light_Power=PLS U=Vpd Z=50 Ohm

dc simulation Parameter S parameter

sweep simulation
DC1
SW1 SP1
Equation Sim=SP1 Type=const
Eqn1 Type=lin Equation Values=[100k]
PLS=5m Param=Vpd Eqn2
Start=-5 Omega=2*pi*frequency
Stop=1 y=stoy(S)
Points=61 RD=PlotVs(1/(real(y[1,1])),Vpd)
CD=PlotVs(imag(y[1,1])/Omega,Vpd)
1e9
1e8 1e-7 Versus.0002: 2.78e-16
1e7
CD: 6e-11
1e6
1e-8
1e5
Rpd (Ohm)

Cpd (F)

1e4
1e3 1e-9
100
10 1e-10
1
0.1
0.03 1e-11
-4 -2 0 -4 -2 0
Vpd (V) Vpd (V)

Figure 3: Photodiode test circuit for extracting device capacitance and resistance
as a function of applied DC bias

9
 VL2 PD2 Vout
I
LA1
PD1
Light_pulse Kv=1.0
R
Power_Const=1u Dk=0.3
Power_PL=0.1u M=5
transient
Power_PH=200m Light1 Vosout=3e-3
Stime=1m simulation
Light_Power=1u Ro=10
Ftime=4m
TR1
TR=10u
Type=lin
TF=10u dc simulation
Start=0
DC1 Stop=10ms
Points=2000
IntegrationMethod=Gear
Order=6

6
0.2
light_pulse (W)

Vout (V)
0.1
2

0 0
0 1e-3 0.002 0.003 0.004 0.005 0.006 0.007 0.008 0.009 0.01
Time (s)

Light_source21
V1
Power_Const=1m P_Light1
U=Power_Const
Power_PL=0
Power_PH=1m SRC2
Stime=0.1m G=1
Ftime=1m V2
TR=1u U1=Power_PL
TF=1u U2=Power_PH
T1=Stime SRC1
T2=Ftime G=1
Tr=TR
Tf=TF

Figure 4: Pulsed light power comparator circuit using two photodiodes and a
logarithmic amplifier

10
 PD1
V1
Light_source Ipd N=1.35
U=Vbias
Light_Power=Light Equation Rseries=1e-3
Is=0.34e-12
Eqn1
Bv=60
Ipd_noise=PlotVs(Ipd.in, Light, Vbias)
Ibv=1e-3
Vj=0.7
Parameter Parameter ac simulation Cj0=60e-12
M=0.5
sweep sweep AC1 Area=1.0
SW1 SW2 Type=const Tnom=26.85
Sim=SW2 Sim=AC1 Values=[10k] Fc=0.5
Type=lin Type=lin Tt=10e-9
Param=Light Param=Vbias Xti=3.0
Start=1m Start=-0.5 dc simulation Eg=1.16
Stop=10m Stop=0.8 Responsivity=0.5
Points=10 Points=100 DC1 Rsh=5e8
QEpercent=0
0.005 Lambda=900
LEVEL=1
Kf=1e-12
Ipd (A)

Af=1.0
0 Ffe=1.0
Temp=26.85

-0.4 -0.2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8

Vbias (V)
1e-9
Ipd_noise (A/sqrt(Hz))

1e-10

1e-11
-0.4 -0.2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
Vbias (V)

Figure 5: Photodiode noise test circuit and simulated noise characteristics

11
End Note
Optoelectronic devices are an important group of electronic components and as
such deserve more attention than has been given to them in the past by the Qucs
development team. This situation should improve over the coming year. The pn
junction photodiode model is the first in a planned series of optoelectronic mod-
els, including models for transimpedance amplifiers, optical actuators and optical
media. Given time it should be possible to significantly improve Qucs optoelec-
tronic capabilities. The photodiode model reported here is an interesting model
in that it is one of the first Verilog-A models to fully utilize the recent changes to
the ADMS/Qucs interface which allow proper initialisation of model parameters.
A new procedure for combining Verilog-A generated models also introduces for
the first time the initial stages towards a fully modularized approach to linking
complex models with the main body of the Qucs code. Once again my thanks to
Stefan Jahn for all his encouragement and help during the period I worked on the
photodiode model.

12