Dark current in GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs quantum well infrared detectors

It is not clear whether the tunneling current in QWIPs depends just on the energy corresponding to motion perpendicular to the plane of the quantum well or on the total energy. In order to get a quantitative assessment of the contribution of energy corresponding to motion in the plane of the quantum well to the dark current we use the following approach. We calculate the dark current in GaAs/AlxGa1-x s quantum well infrared detectors for both tunneling dependent only on Ez, and tunneling dependent on the total energy, and compare the results to experimental data. Comparison of theoretical results with experimental data at 40K shows that motion in the plane of the quantum well plays a significant role in determining the tunneling dark current. Corrections are made to Levine's original formula. Variation of the dark current with barrier width and doping density is systematically studied. It is shown that increasing the barrier width and/or decreasing the doping density in the well do not always reduce the dark current.