Role of interface roughness scattering, temperature, and structural parameters on the performance characteristics of III-nitride quantum cascade detectors

Abstract

A III-nitride quantum cascade detector (QCD) for the fiber optic communication wavelength (∼1.5 μm) has been designed, and the effect of intersubband scattering processes such as longitudinal-optical phonon scattering, ionized impurity scattering, and more importantly interface roughness scattering on responsivity performance has been analyzed. Carrier transport in the detector is modeled using a simplified rate equation approach. It is observed that inclusion of interface roughness scattering in the carrier transport model significantly enhances the responsivity performance of the detector. The effects of roughness conditions for instance mean roughness height and correlation length on responsivity have been examined. The responsivity of the designed detector drops by 2.16 mA/W at 400 K compared to its low temperature value at 50 K and the detection wavelength change with temperature is insignificant, which are very helpful for the stable detection of the radiation for a wide range of operating temperatures and show the thermal stability of III-nitride QCDs. The effects of active well widths, extractor barrier widths, and extractor well widths have been further investigated. A higher responsivity performance is observed for narrower barrier widths. It is noticed that change in the active well width significantly modifies the responsivity of the detector and the wavelength gets red shifted for larger active well widths.