High-detectivity GaAs quantum well infrared detectors with peak responsivity at 8.2 μm

Abstract

GaAs quantum well infrared detectors with peak responsivity at 8.2 μm and significant response beyond 10 μm have been demonstrated with detectivities of 4×1011 cm (Hz)1/2 /W at 6 K; this detectivity is the highest reported for a quantum well detector. The detectors comprised 50 GaAs quantum wells of width 40 Å with an average Si doping density of 1×1018 cm−3 separated by 280-Å barriers of Al0.28Ga0.72As. In this design, the state to which electrons are excited by infrared absorption and from which they are subsequently collected lies in the continuum above the energy of the Al0.28Ga0.72As conduction-band minimum. The maximum detector responsivity was mesured to be 0.34 A/W. The device dark current density is 5.5×10−6 A/cm2 with the detector biased for maximum detectivity (3.5 V), and the dark current remains constant with increasing temperature up to 50 K. The detector noise current was observed to be a constant fraction (70%) of the shot noise down to noise currents of 10−14 A/(Hz)1/2. A theoretical model for the dark conduction process in a quantum well detector has been developed which successfully predicts the observed dark current noise.