P-Type Quantum Well Infrared Photodetectors Grown by OMVPE

Abstract

ABSTRACTWe report on the growth and fabrication of p-doped long wavelength GaAs/AlxGa1−x As quantum well infrared photodetectors (QWIP) grown by organometallic vapor phase epitaxy. The operation of these devices is based on the photocurrent induced through valence band intersubband absorption by holes and, unlike n-doped QWIPs, can utilize normal incidence illumination. Carbon and zinc were used as the p-type dopants in a low-pressure (30 Torr) vertical-geometry reactor. The Zn-doped QWIP consisted of fifty periods of 48 nm-thick undoped Al0.36Ga0.64As barriers and nominally 4 nm-thick doped GaAs quantum wells. Using normal incidence, a quantum efficiency of η = 2.5% and a detectivity of at 77K were obtained for a peak wavelength λp = 6.8 μm and a cutoff wavelength λ∫ =7.6 μm. The C-doped QWIP had 54 nm-thick Al0.31Ga0.69As barriers and exhibited a normal incidence These initial studies indicate the superiority of carbon to zinc as the p-type dopant for these structures. The detectivity of the C-doped QWIPs is about four times less than n-doped QWIPs for the same λp but have the advantage of utilizing normal incidence illumination.