Room-Temperature Midwavelength Infrared InAsSb Nanowire Photodetector Arrays with Al2O3 Passivation.

Abstract

Developing uncooled photodetectors at midwavelength infrared (MWIR) is critical for various applications including remote sensing, heat seeking, spectroscopy, and more. In this study, we demonstrate room-temperature operation of nanowire-based photodetectors at MWIR composed of vertical selective-area InAsSb nanowire photoabsorber arrays on large bandgap InP substrate with nanoscale plasmonic gratings. We accomplish this by significantly suppressing the nonradiative recombination at the InAsSb nanowire surfaces by introducing ex situ conformal Al2O3 passivation shells. Transient simulations estimate an extremely low surface recombination velocity on the order of 103 cm/s. We further achieve room-temperature photoluminescence emission from InAsSb nanowires, spanning the entire MWIR regime from 3 to 5 μm. A dry-etching process is developed to expose only the top nanowire facets for metal contacts, with the sidewalls conformally covered by Al2O3 shells, allowing for a higher internal quantum efficiency. Based on these techniques, we fabricate nanowire photodetectors with an optimized pitch and diameter and demonstrate room-temperature spectral response with MWIR detection signatures up to 3.4 μm. The results of this work indicate that uncooled focal plane arrays at MWIR on low-cost InP substrates can be designed with nanostructured absorbers for highly compact and fully integrated detection platforms.