Abstract
This paper provides a theoretical study and calculation of the specific detectivity-D* limit of photovoltaic (PV) mid-wave infrared (MWIR) PbSe n+-p junction detectors operating at both room temperature and TE-cooled temperature. For a typical PbSe p-type doping concentration of 2 × 1017 cm-3 and with high quantum efficiency, the D* limits of a photovoltaic PbSe n+-p junction detector are shown to be 2.8 × 1010 HZ1/2/W and 3.7 × 1010 HZ1/2/W at 300 K and 240 K, with cut-off wavelength of 4.5 μm and 5.0 μm, respectively. It is almost one magnitude higher than the current practical MWIR PV detector. Above 244 K, the detector is Johnson noise limited, and below 191 K the detector reaches background limited infrared photodetector (BLIP) D*. With optimization of carrier concentration, D* and BLIP temperature could be further increased.
Highlights
The mid-wave infrared (MWIR) light detection has widespread applications in the fields of health monitoring, environmental protection, defense and national security, as well as space exploration and other fields
This paper provides a theoretical study and calculation of the specific detectivity-D* limit of photovoltaic (PV) mid-wave infrared (MWIR) PbSe n+-p junction detectors operating at both room temperature and TE-cooled temperature
We investigate the performance limit of a PbSe n+-p junction detector operating at room temperature and TE-cooled temperature
Summary
The MWIR light detection has widespread applications in the fields of health monitoring, environmental protection, defense and national security, as well as space exploration and other fields. It is known that the major fundamental hurdle of the MWIR photodetectors at high operation temperature is the high Auger recombination rate Among these detectors, the MCT technology has demonstrated its state-of-the-art performance, which is closely approaching the Auger theoretical limit. It is well known that Auger coefficient in IV-VI semiconductors [5] [6] [7] is about an order of magnitude lower than those in Sb-based type-II QWs, [8] [9] [10] which are in turn significantly suppressed relative to other III-V and II-VI semiconductors such as MCT [11] [12] for the same waveleng Such low Auger recombination should result in superior device performance such as high detectivity for detectors at a high operating temperature. We investigate the performance limit of a PbSe n+-p junction detector operating at room temperature and TE-cooled temperature
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