Multiple stack quantum dot infrared photodetectors

Quantum dot infrared photodetectors (QDIP) have established themselves as promising devices for detecting infrared (IR) radiation for wavelengths <20μm due to their sensitivity to normal incidence radiation and long excited carrier lifetimes. A limiting factor of QDIPs at present is their relatively small absorption volume, leading to a lower quantum efficiency and detectivity than in quantum well infrared photodetectors and mercury cadmium telluride based detectors. One means of increasing the absorption volume is to incorporate a greater number of quantum dot (QD) stacks, thereby increasing the probability of photon capture. Growth of InAs/InGaAs dot-in-a-well (DWELL) QDIPs with greater than 10 stacks is challenging due to the increased strain between layers, leading to high dark current. It is known that strain can be reduced in QDIPs by reducing the width of the InGaAs well and incorporating a second well consisting of GaAs and barriers consisting of AlGaAs. A number of InAs/InGaAs/GaAs DWELL QDIPs with 30-80 stacks have been grown, fabricated and characterised. Dark current in these layers appears to be constant at given electric field, suggesting strain does not increase significantly if the number of QD stacks is increased. IR spectral measurements show well defined peaks at 5.5μm, 6.5μm and 8.4μm. In this work a comparison between dark current, noise, gain, responsivity and detectivity in these layers is presented and compared to existing data from conventional DWELL QDIPs.