A GaN/AlN quantum cascade detector with a broad response from the mid-infrared (4.1  μ m) to the visible (550 nm) spectral range

Abstract

We report on a GaN/AlN quantum cascade detector operating in an extended spectral range going from the mid-infrared to visible wavelengths. This broadband detection is achieved thanks to the design of active quantum wells supporting five bound-to-bound intersubband transitions. The photodetector exhibits a broad signal between 4.1 μm and 550 nm. The photocurrent persists up to room temperature. The calibrated responsivity at 77 K under irradiation through a 45° angle polished facet amounts to 7 μA/W at a wavelength of 633 nm and is peaked at 14 μA/W at a wavelength of 720 nm.

Phonons in Short-Period GaN/AlN Superlattices: Group-Theoretical Analysis, Ab initio Calculations, and Raman Spectra

“…In the first case, the ability of GaN/AlN SLs with a period of several atomic layers to possess a precisely adjusted effective band gap from 3.4 to 6.1 eV can be used in light-emitting and adsorption layers instead of traditional ternary AlGaN alloys [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 ]. GaN/Al(Ga)N SLs with a slightly longer period are a promising material system for the implementation of unipolar devices operating in the range from the near IR to the THz one [ 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 ]. Moreover, the introduction of different SLs into all heterostructure devices grown on mismatched substrates is very effective for controlling stresses and filtering threading dislocations [ 12 , 13 , 14 ].…”

Investigation of the electron-acoustic phonon interaction via the deformation and piezoelectric potentials in AlN/GaN resonant tunneling nanostructures

“…Using the results of the theory of electron-phonon interaction developed above, calculations were performed for the example of geometric and physical parameters (taken from the papers [14,25,33,34]) of the recently experimentally investigated cascade of QCD [6], which can operate from the mid-infrared to visible spectral range of electromagnetic waves. The geometrical parameters of the cascade layers are as follows: potential barriers (Δ exp , = 1..…”

“…The geometrical parameters of the cascade layers are as follows: potential barriers (Δ exp , = 1.. Besides, the input potential well of width 1 =3.38 nm is -doped with the concentration of charge carriers: = 2 ⋅ 10 19 cm −3 as in the cascade of the experimentally investigated QCD [6].…”

“…In most of the experimentally realized QCD, in the QCD from the recent paper [6] in particular, the parameters of which are used in our further calculations, the longitudinal motion of electrons parallel to the axis, that is, perpendicular to the nanostructure layers, is functionally important. Thus, in direct calculations, it will be expedient to assume that the transverse quasimomentum ̄ = 0, then we obtain…”

“…Semiconductor nitride compounds AlN, GaN, AlGaN and others are now widely used in nanotechnology, because on their basis many nanostructures of different symmetry have been created, such as quantum dots and their arrays, quantum wires, single and multiple quantum well structures [1][2][3][4]. A separate important area is the creation and studies of the multilayer plane nanosystems -the so-called resonant tunneling structures (RTS), which are practically used as precision elements of quantum cascade lasers (QCL) [5] and detectors (QCD) [6] etc.…”