Electrical gain in interband cascade infrared photodetectors

Huang, Wenxiang; Li, Lü; Le, Lei; Massengale, Jeremy A.; Yang, Rui Q.; Mıshıma, Tetsuya D.; Santos, M. B.

doi:10.1063/1.5019019

Cited by 34 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…The RTD quantum efficiency of η RTD = 0.15 is calculated for normal incidence considering an absorption coefficient of α = 1 × 10 4 cm −1 and only reflection at the air/semiconductor interface as loss factor . The amplification is therefore about double the gain observed in interband cascade photodetectors …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

p‐Type Doped AlAsSb/GaSb Resonant Tunneling Diode Photodetector for the Mid‐Infrared Spectral Region

Pfenning

Hartmann

Weih

et al. 2018

Advanced Optical Materials

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In a recent publication, we proposed to apply the resonant tunneling diode (RTD) photodetector principle to the mid-infrared (MIR) spectral region, by combining an antimony-based AlSb/ GaSb double barrier quantum well (DBQW) resonant tunneling structure (RTS) with an narrow bandgap absorption region. [17] Hereby, the RTD serves as an internal high-gain amplifier of small optically generated electrical signals. In contrast to, e.g., avalanche photodiodes where the gain is provided via impact ionization processes, the gain of RTD photodetectors originates from the modulation of a larger majority charge carrier tunneling current that is sensitive to small variations of the local electrostatic potential.The so called 6.1 Å family, [18] which is comprised of the three semiconductors InAs, GaSb, and AlSb offers a huge flexibility in designing electronic, optical, and optoelectronic devices, [19] such as topological insulators, [20][21][22][23] optical MIR type-II superlattice photodetectors, [24] and quantum cascade lasers (QCLs), [25][26][27] or interband cascade lasers (ICLs), [27][28][29][30][31] and interband cascade detectors (ICDs). [32,33] This flexibility can mainly be attributed to the huge variety of band lineups, bandgap energies, and in particular to the so called InAs/GaSb type-II broken bandgap alignment. While the InAs/GaSb/AlSb material system has also brought forth a large variety of different resonant tunneling structures, [3,18,34,35] only AlAsSb/GaSb RTDs provide the required energy barriers in both valence and conduction band due to the type-I heterointerface. [36][37][38][39] In another recent publication, we demonstrated that room temperature resonant tunneling of electrons in AlAsSb/GaSb RTDs requires the use of emitter prewells. [40][41][42] Here, we propose to invert the charge carrier polarity within the RTD photodetector, i.e., using p-type instead of n-type doping.Using p-type doping in an RTD photodetector, and therefore hole instead of electron transport, might seem counterintuitive at first, since hole transport usually comes with several disadvantages. Due to their higher effective mass, holes have a lower mobility and a smaller de Broglie wavelength compared to electrons. [43] A lower mobility results in inferior transport properties, a smaller de Broglie wavelength demands a higher quality semiconductor crystal growth. However, and in particular for the GaSb material system, p-type doping may Mid-infrared (MIR) resonant tunneling diode (RTD) photodetectors based on a p-type doped AlAsSb/GaSb double-barrier quantum well (DBQW) are proposed and investigated for their optoelectronic transport properties. At room temperature, a distinct resonant tunneling current with a region of negative differential conductance is measured. The peak-to-valley current ratio (PVCR) is 1.51. To provide photosensitivity within the MIR spectral region, a lattice-matched quaternary low-bandgap GaInAsSb absorption layer with cutoff wavelength of λ = 2.77 μm is integrated near the DBQW. Under illumination with ...

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

p‐Type Doped AlAsSb/GaSb Resonant Tunneling Diode Photodetector for the Mid‐Infrared Spectral Region

Pfenning

Hartmann

Weih

et al. 2018

Advanced Optical Materials

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“…Currently, IB QCIPs has two types of configuration: current-matched (designed to have an equal photocurrent in every single stage) and non-current-matched [39]. Hinkey and Yang described the IB QCIP structure with equal absorbers offering the potential for significant responsivity improvement assuming αL ≤ 0.2 (αL-Product of the absorption coefficient and the diffusion length) [40].…”

Section: Interband Quantum Cascade Infrared Photodetectors (Ib Qcips)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Trends in Performance Limits of the HOT Infrared Photodetectors

et al. 2021

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The cryogenic cooling of infrared (IR) photon detectors optimized for the mid- (MWIR, 3–5 µm) and long wavelength (LWIR, 8–14 µm) range is required to reach high performance. This is a major obstacle for more extensive use of IR technology. Focal plane arrays (FPAs) based on thermal detectors are presently used in staring thermal imagers operating at room temperature. However, their performance is modest; thermal detectors exhibit slow response, and the multispectral detection is difficult to reach. Initial efforts to develop high operating temperature (HOT) photodetectors were focused on HgCdTe photoconductors and photoelectromagnetic detectors. The technological efforts have been lately directed on advanced heterojunction photovoltaic HgCdTe detectors. This paper presents the several approaches to increase the photon-detectors room-temperature performance. Various kinds of materials are considered: HgCdTe, type-II AIIIBV superlattices, two-dimensional materials and colloidal quantum dots.

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“…Currently, quantum well infrared photodetectors (QWIPs) and quantum cascade photodetectors (QCDs) for high speed MWIR applications have been demonstrated [7][8][9] . Nevertheless performance of QCDs is mainly limited by absorption efficiency and noise due to a short carrier lifetime 10-15 , and QWIPs have shortcomings in large dark currents and no response to normal incident light 7,16 .Compared with conventional photodetectors, interband cascade infrared photodetectors (ICIPs) have more flexibility to alleviate the limitation on absorber thickness due to a finite diffusion length so that all photo-generated carriers can be efficiently collected, while absorption of incident light can be ensured with multiple absorbers located in each stage connected in series 16 . On the other hand, the individual absorber thickness in every stage can be shortened to reduce the carrier transit time across a single stage.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Another advantage of ICIPs is that noise is suppressed by the multiple discrete short absorbers, instead of a single long absorber 17,18 . As one of the most widely studied material system for MWIR, ICIPs based on InAs/GaSb type-II superlattice (T2SL) could offer several advantages such as wavelength tunability between 1 to 25 μm, excellent carrier transport properties and signal to noise ratio (SNR) 16 . Lotfi et al reported a three-stage ICIP based on InAs/GaSb/AlSb/InSb T2SLs with a cutoff wavelength around 4.2µm at 300K, and the corresponding 3-dB bandwidth was ~1.3 GHz under zero bias 19 .…”

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High-speed mid-wave infrared interband cascade photodetector at room temperature

Xie¹,

Huang²,

Chai³

et al. 2020

Opt. Express

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High speed mid-wave infrared (MWIR) photodetectors have important applications in the emerging areas such highprecision frequency comb spectroscopy and light detection and ranging (LIDAR). In this work, we report a high-speed room-temperature mid-wave infrared interband cascade photodetector (ICIP) based on a type-II InAs/GaSb superlattice. The devices show an optical cut-off wavelength around 5µm and a 3-dB bandwidth up to 7.04 GHz. The relatively low dark current density around 9.39 × 10 −2 A/cm 2 under −0.1 V is also demonstrated at 300K. These results validate the advantages of ICIPs to achieve both high-frequency operation and low noise at room temperature. Limitations on the high-speed performance of the detector are also discussed based on the S-parameter analysis and other RF performance measurement.Semiconductor photodetectors sensitive to mid-wave infrared (MWIR) have attracted extensive attentions in many applications such as chemical sensing, gas monitoring and high-performance infrared imaging. In some special applications, such as free-space optical communication and frequency comb spectroscopy, MWIR photodetectors capable of highfrequency operation are required as an essential component 1-6 . Currently, quantum well infrared photodetectors (QWIPs) and quantum cascade photodetectors (QCDs) for high speed MWIR applications have been demonstrated [7][8][9] . Nevertheless performance of QCDs is mainly limited by absorption efficiency and noise due to a short carrier lifetime 10-15 , and QWIPs have shortcomings in large dark currents and no response to normal incident light 7,16 .Compared with conventional photodetectors, interband cascade infrared photodetectors (ICIPs) have more flexibility to alleviate the limitation on absorber thickness due to a finite diffusion length so that all photo-generated carriers can be efficiently collected, while absorption of incident light can be ensured with multiple absorbers located in each stage connected in series 16 . On the other hand, the individual absorber thickness in every stage can be shortened to reduce the carrier transit time across a single stage. Another advantage of ICIPs is that noise is suppressed by the multiple discrete short absorbers, instead of a single long absorber 17,18 . As one of the most widely studied material system for MWIR, ICIPs based on InAs/GaSb type-II superlattice (T2SL) could offer several advantages such as wavelength tunability between 1 to 25 μm, excellent carrier transport properties and signal to noise ratio (SNR) 16 . Lotfi et al. reported a three-stage ICIP based on InAs/GaSb/AlSb/InSb T2SLs with a cutoff wavelength around 4.2µm at 300K, and the corresponding 3-dB bandwidth was ~1.3 GHz under zero bias 19 . Recently, a two-stage ICIP employing the InAs/Ga(As)Sb T2SLs as the absorption layer with cutoff wavelength of 5.6 μm and the 3-dB bandwidth of 2.4 GHz under −5 V bias at 300 K was demonstrated by our group 20 . In this paper, we report a five-stage ICIP based on InAs/GaSb type-II superlattice with a thin absorber of ...

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Electrical gain in interband cascade infrared photodetectors

Cited by 34 publications

References 36 publications

p‐Type Doped AlAsSb/GaSb Resonant Tunneling Diode Photodetector for the Mid‐Infrared Spectral Region

p‐Type Doped AlAsSb/GaSb Resonant Tunneling Diode Photodetector for the Mid‐Infrared Spectral Region

Trends in Performance Limits of the HOT Infrared Photodetectors

High-speed mid-wave infrared interband cascade photodetector at room temperature

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