High Responsivity Tunable Step Quantum Well Infrared Photodetector

Abstract

In this thesis, the performance of a step quantum well infrared photodetector (QWIP), which was designed to detect a laser spot at 1.05 m and IR radiation between 9.5 m to 10.5 m, was evaluated. In the far infrared (FIR), the maximum responsivity of the test detector at 10 K was measured at 1.02 A/W with a peak wavelength of 10.3 m under a negative bias of 0.83 V. The D* at background limited infrared performance (BLIP) was measured at 8.0x10(9) cm square root Hz/W with 180 degrees field of view. The BLIP temperature was found to be about 55 K. In addition, the FIR detection wavelength found shift with the amount of bias across the device. The amount of shift observed was 0.21 meV/KVcm-1 which is due to linear Stark effect associated with the step quantum well. The quantum well infrared detectors made of square quantum wells found to have an order of magnitude lower Stark shift originated from second order effects. This suggests that the step well infrared detector can have applications in tunable wavelength infrared detectors.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 2004
Accession Number
ADA429877

Entities

People

  • Yeo Hwee Tiong

Organizations

  • Naval Postgraduate School

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Advanced Electronics

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Band Gaps
  • Band Structures
  • Compound Semiconductors
  • Conduction Bands
  • Detection
  • Detectors
  • Diffraction
  • Energy Bands
  • Energy Levels
  • Fire Control Systems
  • Infrared Detection
  • Infrared Detectors
  • Infrared Radiation
  • Quantum Wells
  • Semiconductors
  • Spectra
  • Stark Effect

Fields of Study

  • Materials science

Readers

  • Quantum Dot Semiconductor Device Photonics and Graphene Optoelectronic Materials and THz Physics.
  • Spectroscopy.
  • Systems Analysis and Design

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy
  • Quantum Computing