S. Kalchmair

Photonic crystal slab quantum well infrared photodetector

In this letter we present a quantum well infrared photodetector (QWIP), which is fabricated as a photonic crystal slab (PCS). With the PCS it is possible to enhance the absorption efficiency by increasing photon lifetime in the detector active region. To understand the optical properties of the device we simulate the PCS photonic band structure, which differs significantly from a real two-dimensional photonic crystal. By fabricating a PCS-QWIP with 100x less quantum well doping, compared to a standard QWIP, we are able to see strong absorption enhancement and sharp resonance peaks up to temperatures of 170 K.

Detectivity enhancement in quantum well infrared photodetectors utilizing a photonic crystal slab resonator.

We characterize the performance of a quantum well infrared photodetector (QWIP), which is fabricated as a photonic crystal slab (PCS) resonator. The strongest resonance of the PCS is designed to coincide with the absorption peak frequency at 7.6 µm of the QWIP. To accurately characterize the detector performance, it is illuminated by using single mode mid-infrared lasers. The strong resonant absorption enhancement yields a detectivity increase of up to 20 times. This enhancement is a combined effect of increased responsivity and noise current reduction. With increasing temperature, we observe a red shift of the PCS-QWIP resonance peak of -0.055 cm(-1)/K. We attribute this effect to a refractive index change and present a model based on the revised plane wave method.

Image contrast enhancement in confocal ultramicroscopy

Ultramicroscopy allows for the 3D reconstruction of centimeter sized samples with a spatial resolution of several micrometers. Nevertheless, in poorly cleared or very large specimens the images may suffer from blurring and low contrast levels. To address these problems, ultramicroscopy was combined with the principle of confocal microscopy using a slowly rotating Nipkow disk. This configuration was tested by comparing images from mouse hippocampal neurons and mouse liver blood vessels recorded in confocal and conventional mode. It was found that confocality minimizes the background noise and considerably improves the signal-to-noise ratio when applied to ultramicroscopy.

A bi-functional quantum cascade device for same-frequency lasing and detection

We demonstrate a bi-functional quantum cascade device that detects at the same wavelength as it coherently emits. Our fabricated device operates at room-temperature with a pulsed peak power emission of 45 mW and a detector responsivity of 3.6 mA/W. We show how to compensate the intrinsic wavelength mismatch between the laser and the detector, based on a bound-to-continuum design. An overlap between the laser and the detector spectra was observed from 6.4 μm to 6.8 μm. The electro-luminescence spectrum almost perfectly matches the detector spectrum, overlapping from 6.2 μm to 7.1 μm.

Measurement of bound states in the continuum by a detector embedded in a photonic crystal

We directly measure optical bound states in the continuum (BICs) by embedding a photodetector into a photonic crystal slab. The BICs observed in our experiment are the result of accidental phase matching between incident, reflected and in-plane waves at seemingly random wave vectors in the photonic band structure. Our measurements were confirmed through a rigorously coupled-wave analysis simulation in conjunction with temporal coupled mode theory. Polarization mixing between photonic crystal slab modes was observed and described using a plane wave expansion simulation. The ability to probe the field intensity inside the photonic crystal and thereby to directly measure BICs represents a milestone in the development of integrated opto-electronic devices based on BICs.

Optimized photonic crystal design for quantum well infrared photodetectors

The performance of quantum well infrared photodetectors (QWIP) can be significantly enhanced combining it with a photonic crystal slab (PCS) resonator. In such a system the chosen PCS mode is designed to coincide with the absorption maximum of the photodetector by adjusting the lattice parameters. However there is a multitude of parameter sets that exhibit the same resonance frequency of the chosen PCS mode. We have investigated how the choice of the PC design can be exploited for a further enhancement of QWIPs. Several sets of lattice parameters that exhibit the chosen PCS mode at the same resonance frequency have been obtained and the finite difference time domain method was used to simulate the absorption spectra of the different PCS. A photonic crystal slab quantum well infrared photodetector with three different photonic crystal lattice designs that exhibit the same resonance frequency of the chosen PCS mode were designed, fabricated and measured. This work shows that the quality factor of a PCS-QWIP and therefore the absorption enhancement can be increased by an optimized PCS design. The improvement is a combined effect of a changed lattice constant, PC normalized radius and normalized slab thickness. An enhancement of the measured photocurrent of more than a factor of two was measured.

Asymmetrically Doped GaAs/AlGaAs Double-Quantum-Well Structure for Voltage-Tunable Infrared Detection

We fabricate, characterize, and analyze tunable mid-infrared photodetectors based on asymmetrically doped coupled quantum well GaAs/ AlGaAs structures. The peak of photoresponse detection varies from 7.5 to 11.1m when switching bias from 5 to +5V. The spectral tunability is defined by the interplay of several effects. First, the electron energy levels are shifted due to the Stark effect. Second, the applied electric field causes the charge redistribution in the coupled wells and shift of electron energy levels due to modification of self-consistent potential. Here we show that effect of electric field on tunneling processes (the Poole–Frenkel effect) and the field-induced decrease of thermo-emission barrier (the Fowler–Nordheim effect) also play a critical role in photoelectron kinetics, strongly enhancing the carrier extraction from quantum wells. The model which takes into account Poole–Frenkel and Fowler–Nordheim effects provides a quantitative description of the data obtained. # 2012 The Japan Society of Applied Physics

Higher order modes in photonic crystal slabs

We present a detailed investigation of higher order modes in photonic crystal slabs. In such structures the resonances exhibit a blue-shift compared to an ideal two-dimensional photonic crystal, which depends on the order of the slab mode and the polarization. By fabricating a series of photonic crystal slab photo detecting devices, with varying ratios of slab thickness to photonic crystal lattice constant, we are able to distinguish between 0th and 1st order slab modes as well as the polarization from the shift of resonances in the photocurrent spectra. This method complements the photonic band structure mapping technique for characterization of photonic crystal slabs.

Electrical beam steering of Y-coupled quantum cascade lasers

The authors describe electrical beam steering of mid-infrared quantum cascade lasers with a monolithically integrated Y-coupled cavity and electrically separated branches. The deflection of the laser beam is achieved without any additional components such as optic or mechanic systems. This is done by injecting additional direct current into one of the two emitting branches, locally increasing the temperature. We estimate that the required temperature difference between left and right branch is approximately 12 K to achieve 2° of the beam steering. This value is in a good agreement with heat transfer simulations.

Post-fabrication fine-tuning of photonic crystal quantum well infrared photodetectors

Photonic crystal (PC) devices require high fabrication accuracy for on demand positioning of resonances. We describe post-fabrication fine-tuning of a PC quantum well infrared photodetector (QWIP) by sidewall-deposition of silicon nitride. The PC resonance was shifted over a bandwidth of 43 cm−1. From photoresponse measurements we calculated a tuning coefficient of ∂ν/∂dSiN=−0.06 cm−1/nm. The QWIP responsivity did not suffer from nitride absorption while the PC resonance increased by a factor of 1.6. This shows that post-fabrication tuning by dielectric deposition with, e.g., silicon nitride is a feasible method to achieve precise implementations of PC devices.