Abstract
We investigate the limit of weak infrared photodetection based on a systematic analysis of three main noise mechanisms, and point out the principles to achieve the ultimate performance. Two key issues should be addressed to realize ultra-sensitive infrared photodetection: suppression of background radiation, selection and optimization of photodetectors. We quantitatively studied the dependence of ultimate performance on the background temperature and emissivity. It is revealed that the background limited infrared performance detectivity for mid-infrared photodetection can be increased from the range of 1010 to 1011 cmHz1/2/W to 1015 cmHz1/2/W or even higher values, when the background radiation temperature decreases from the ambient to liquid nitrogen temperature. Furthermore, we investigate the feasibility of photoconductive infrared photodetectors for ultra-sensitive photodetection. Our simulations shows that ideal quantum well infrared photodetectors (QWIPs) can reach background limited infrared performance at feasible operation temperatures facing even very weak background radiation. For specific and quantitative analyses, QWIPs are used as the examples. However, the conclusions apply to a broader range of cases.
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