Y. Ergun

“N” structure for type-II superlattice photodetectors

In the quest to raise the operating temperature and improve the detectivity of type II superlattice (T2SL) photodetectors, we introduce a design approach that we call the “N structure.” N structure aims to improve absorption by manipulating electron and hole wavefunctions that are spatially separated in T2SLs, increasing the absorption while decreasing the dark current. In order to engineer the wavefunctions, we introduce a thin AlSb layer between InAs and GaSb layers in the growth direction which also acts as a unipolar electron barrier. Unlike the symmetrical insertion of AlSb into GaSb layers, N design aims to exploit the shifting of the electron and hole wavefunctions under reverse bias. With cutoff wavelength of 4.3 μm at 77 K, temperature dependent dark current and detectivity measurements show that the dark current density is 3.6 × 10−9 A/cm2, under zero bias. Photodetector reaches background limited infrared photodetection (BLIP) condition at 125 K with the BLIP detectivity (D*BLIP) of 2.6 × 1010 ...

Effect of the Passivation Layer on the Noise Characteristics of Mid-Wave-Infrared InAs/GaSb Superlattice Photodiodes

The authors describe the noise characterization of a mid-wavelength-infrared (MWIR) photodiode based on indium arsenide and gallium antimonide (InAs/GaSb) superlattice (SL), addressing the influence of different passivation layers applied to the surface of the device. The MWIR InAs/GaSb SL design structure is based on p-i-n configuration grown by the molecular beam epitaxy on a (001) n-GaSb substrate. The SiO2-passivated SL photodiodes demonstrated a Schottky-limited noise up to a bias voltage of -0.1 V where the measured peak responsivity is 1.37 AAV with a cut-off wavelength of 4.9 μm and the specific detectivity as high as 1.23 × 1012 cm. Hz1/2 /W, demonstrating the high quality of the fabricated MWIR SL photodiodes. The noise measurements exhibited a frequency-dependent plateau (i.e., 1/f noise) for unpassivated and Si3N4-passivated samples, whereas 1/f-type noise suppression (i.e., frequency-independent plateau) with a noise current reduction at about 30 Hz of more than one order of magnitude was observed for the SiO2-passivated ones.

Tunable long-wavelength broad band asymmetric quantum well infrared photodetector

We present a theoretical investigation of a GaAs/AlGaAs infrared detector consisting of three asymmetric quantum wells. Each well is designed to yield absorption and a photoresponse at peak wavelengths of 8.2 µm, 9.5 µm and 10.8 µm respectively. The device operation is based on an intersubband bound to quasi-bound transition. Asymmetry in the barriers is shown to give rise to the dependence of the spectral line width on applied reverse bias.

Ground state energy of excitons in quantum dot treated variationally via Hylleraas-like wavefunction

In this work, the effects of quantum confinement on the ground state energy of a correlated electron–hole pair in a spherical and in a disc-like quantum dot have been investigated as a function of quantum dot size. Under parabolic confinement potential and within effective mass approximation Ritzs variational method is applied to Hylleraas-like trial wavefunction. An efficient method for reducing the main effort of the calculation of terms like rehk exp(−λreh) is introduced. The main contribution of the present work is the introduction of integral transforms which provide the calculation of expectation value of energy and the related matrix elements to be done analytically over single-particle coordinates instead of Hylleraas coordinates.

Theoretical investigation of InAs/GaSb type-II pin superlattice infrared detector in the mid wavelength infrared range

In this study, we present the theoretical investigation of type-II InAs/GaSb superlattice p-i-n detector. Kronig-Penney and envelope function approximation is used to calculate band gap energy and superlattice minibands. Variational method is also used to calculate exciton binding energies. Our results show that carriers overlap increases at GaSb/InAs interface on the higher energy side while it decreases at InAs/GaSb interface on the lower energy side with increasing reverse bias due to shifting the hole wavefunction toward to the GaSb/InAs interface decisively. Binding energies increase with increasing electric field due to overall overlap of electron and hole wave functions at the both interfaces in contrast with type I superlattices. This predicts that optical absorption is enhanced with increasing electric field.

A study of photomodulated reflectance on staircase-like, n-doped GaAs/AlxGa1−xAs quantum well structures

In this study, photomodulated reflectance (PR) technique was employed on two different quantum well infrared photodetector (QWIP) structures, which consist of n-doped GaAs quantum wells (QWs) between undoped AlxGa1−xAs barriers with three different x compositions. Therefore, the barrier profile is in the form of a staircase-like barrier. The main difference between the two structures is the doping profile and the doping concentration of the QWs. PR spectra were taken at room temperature using a He-Ne laser as a modulation source and a broadband tungsten halogen lamp as a probe light. The PR spectra were analyzed using Aspnes’ third derivative functional form.Since the barriers are staircase-like, the structure has different ground state energies; therefore, several optical transitions take place in the spectrum which cannot be resolved in a conventional photoluminescence technique at room temperature. To analyze the experimental results, all energy levels in the conduction and in the valance band were calculated using transfer matrix technique, taking into account the effective mass and the parabolic band approximations. A comparison of the PR results with the calculated optical transition energies showed an excellent agreement. Several optical transition energies of the QWIP structures were resolved from PR measurements. It is concluded that PR spectroscopy is a very useful experimental tool to characterize complicated structures with a high accuracy at room temperature.

Voltage Tunable Dual-Band Quantum-Well Infrared Photodetector for Third-Generation Thermal Imaging

We investigate the theoretical calculations of the voltage tunable dual-band quantum-well infrared photodetector (QWIP) in the long and very long wavelength infrared range (LWIR and VLWIR). The detector consists of two serially connected GaAs/AlGaAs stacks which have spectral responses of 8.4- and 14- μm wavelengths, respectively. The peak responsivity wavelength of the stacks shifts from 8.4 to 14 μm as the bias voltage is increased.

Fourier transform technique in variational treatment of two-electron parabolic quantum dot

In this work, we propose an efficient method of reducing the computational effort of variational calculation with a Hylleraas-like trial wavefunction. The method consists of introducing integral transforms for the terms as rk12 exp (−λr12) which provide the calculation of the expectation value of energy and the relevant matrix elements to be done analytically over single-electron coordinates instead of Hylleraas coordinates. We have used this method to calculate the ground state energy of a two-electron system in a spherical dot and a disk-like quantum dot separately. Under parabolic confinement potential and within effective mass approximation size and shape effects of quantum dots on the ground state energy of two electrons have been investigated. The calculation shows that our results even with a small number of basis states are in good agreement with previous theoretical results.

Gibbs free energy assisted passivation layers

Reduction of surface leakage is a major challenge in most photodetectors that requires the elimination of surface oxides on etched mesas during passivation. Engineering the passivation requires close attention to chemical reactions that take place at the interface during the process. In particular, removal of surface oxides may be controlled via Gibbs reactivity. We have compared electrical performance of type-II superlattice photodetectors, designed for MWIR operation, passivated by different passivation techniques. We have used ALD deposited Al2O3, HfO2, TiO2, ZnO, PECVD deposited SiO2, Si3N4 and sulphur containing octadecanethiol (ODT) selfassembled monolayers (SAM) passivation layers on InAs/GaSb p-i-n superlattice photodetectors with cutoff wavelength at 5.1 μm. In this work, we have compared the result of different passivation techniques which are done under same conditions, same epitaxial structure and same fabrication processes. We have found that ALD deposited passivation is directly related to the Gibbs free energy of the passivation material. Gibbs free energies of the passivation layer can directly be compared with native surface oxides to check the effectiveness of the passivation layer before the experimental study.

AlSb and InAs-GaSb layer thickness effect on HH-LH splitting and band gap energies in InAs/AlSb/GaSb type-II superlattices

Abstract This study is based on the investigation of AlSb layer thickness effect on heavy−hole light−hole (HH−LH) splitting and band gap energies in a recently developed N−structure based on InAs/AlSb/GaSb type II superlattice (T2SL) p−i−n photodetector.eFirst principle calculations were carried out tailoring the band gap and HH−LH splitting energies for two possible interface transition alloys of InSb and AlAs between InAs and AlSb interfaces in the superlattice. Results show that AlSb and InAs−GaSb layer thicknesses enable to control HH−LH splitting energies to desired values for Auger recombination process where AlSb/GaSb total layer thickness is equal to InAs layers for the structures with InSb and AlAs interfaces.