Quantum dot infrared photodetectors: Comparison of experiment and theory

We present data and calculations and examine the factors that determine the detectivities in self-assembled InAs and InGaAs based quantum dot infrared photodetectors (QDIPs). We investigate a class of devices that combine good wavelength selectivity with ``high detectivity.'' We study the factors that limit the temperature performance of quantum dot detectors. For this we develop a formalism to evaluate the optical absorption and the electron transport properties. We examine the performance limiting factors and compare theory with experimental data. We find that the notion of a phonon bottleneck does not apply to large-diameter lenslike quantum dots, which have many closely spaced energy levels. The observed strong decrease of responsivity with temperature is ultimately due to a rapid thermal cascade back into the ground states. High temperature performance is improved by engineering the excited state to be near the continuum. The good low temperature $(77\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{K})$ performance in strongly bound QDIPs is shown to be due to the high gain and the low noise achievable in these micron size devices.

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