63 MeV proton-induced mild displacement effects in long-wave infrared InAs/GaSb type-II superlattice barrier infrared detectors

Abstract

In this work, we investigated the effects of 63 MeV proton irradiation on the electrical performance of long-wave infrared InAs/GaSb type-II superlattice barrier detectors. The dark current density increase due to displacement dose effects does not exceed a factor of 2.6, regardless of the absorber thickness, when measured after a proton fluence of 8×1011 H+/cm2 at 100 K. Subsequent analysis showed that the dark current changes behavior after irradiation, and the dominant current is no longer diffusion but generation–recombination and trap-assisted tunneling. Device simulation also allowed us to extract a minority carrier lifetime before and after irradiation, which decreases with increasing fluence as a result of the 63 MeV proton-induced mild material degradation.