Miniaturized InSb Mid-JR Sensor for Room Temperature Operation

Abstract

This paper reports the development and evaluation of an InSb photovoltaic infrared sensor (InSb PVS) operating at room temperature. The InSb PVS consists of 700 InSb p <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">+</sup> -p <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">-</sup> -n <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">+</sup> photodiodes connected in series, on a semi-insulating GaAs (100) substrate. An Al <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">0.17</sub> In <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">0.83</sub> Sb barrier layer between p <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">+</sup> and p <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">-</sup> layers was used to reduce diffusion of photo-excited electrons. Cutoff wavelength was 6.8 mum and output signal was linear with incident irradiance. Noise equivalent temperature difference (NETD) of 2.2times10 <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">-3</sup> degC/Hz <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">1/2</sup> was obtained at room temperature, which shows the sensor to be a promising device for human body detection or non-contact thermometry.