Above-77 K operation of charge sensitive infrared phototransistor with dynamically controlled optical gate

Abstract

Charge sensitive infrared phototransistors (CSIPs) show great promise for sensitive mid-infrared photodetection, extending up to single-photon counting, owing to the built-in amplification mechanism. However, the operating temperature of previously reported CSIPs has been limited to below 30 K. In this work, we propose a technique that enhances the operating temperature to above liquid nitrogen temperature by dynamically controlling the electrostatic potential of the optical floating gate (FG). This control effectively suppresses the annihilation of photogenerated holes in the FG, mitigating the vertical recombination process of thermally excited electrons. We detected the photosignal up to ∼85 K under a photon flux of Φ∼3.6×108 s−1. An outstanding photoresponsivity (R=39.11 A/W) to external blinking light at the peak wavelength of λ=11μm is achieved at 77 K. Our work not only extends the practical application of CSIPs, meeting the high demand for high temperature operation, but also offers more flexibility in fabricating more general highly sensitive phototransistors.