Photovoltaic Detectors Research Articles

Fast and Sensitive Colloidal Quantum Dot Mid-Wave Infrared Photodetectors.

Colloidal quantum dots (CQDs) with a band gap tunable in the mid-wave infrared (MWIR) region provide a cheap alternative to epitaxial commercial photodetectors such as HgCdTe (MCT) and InSb. Photoconductive HgTe CQD devices have demonstrated the potential of CQDs for MWIR photodetection but face limitations in speed and sensitivity. Recently, a proof-of-concept HgTe photovoltaic (PV) detector was realized, achieving background-limited infrared photodetection at cryogenic temperatures. Using a modified PV device architecture, we report up to 2 orders of magnitude improvement in the sensitivity of the HgTe CQD photodetectors. A solid-state cation exchange method was introduced during device fabrication to chemically modify the interface potential, leading to an order of magnitude improvement of external quantum efficiency at room temperature. At 230 K, the HgTe CQD photodetectors reported here achieve a sensitivity of 109 Jones with a cutoff wavelength between 4 and 5 μm, which is comparable to that of commercial photodetectors. In addition to the chemical treatment, a thin-film interference structure was devised using an optical spacer to achieve near unity internal quantum efficiency upon reducing the operating temperature. The enhanced sensitivity of the HgTe CQD photodetectors reported here should motivate interest in a cheap, solution-processed MWIR photodetector for applications extending beyond research and military defense.

Self-Suspended Nanomesh Scaffold for Ultrafast Flexible Photodetectors Based on Organic Semiconducting Crystals.

Self-standing nanostructures are of fundamental interest in materials science and nanoscience and are widely used in (opto-)electronic and photonic devices as well as in micro-electromechanical systems. To date, large-area and self-standing nanoelectrode arrays assembled on flexible substrates have not been reported. Here the fabrication of a hollow nanomesh scaffold on glass and plastic substrates with a large surface area over 1 mm2 and ultralow leakage current density (≈1-10 pA mm-2 @ 2 V) across the empty scaffold is demonstrated. Thanks to the continuous sub-micrometer space formed in between the nanomesh and the bottom electrode, highly crystalline and dendritic domains of 6,13-bis(triisopropylsilylethinyl)pentacene growing within the hollow cavity can be observed. The high degree of order at the supramolecular level leads to efficient charge and exciton transport; the photovoltaic detector supported on flexible polyethylene terephthalate substrates exhibits an ultrafast photoresponse time as short as 8 ns and a signal-to-noise ratio approaching 105 . Such a hollow scaffold holds great potential as a novel device architecture toward flexible (opto-)electronic applications based on self-assembled micro/nanocrystals.

High Performance, Biocompatible Dielectric Thin‐Film Optical Filters Integrated with Flexible Substrates and Microscale Optoelectronic Devices

AbstractMiniaturized, wearable, and implantable optoelectronic devices and systems provide incomparable opportunities for applications in biomedical fields. Optical filters with wavelength selective reflective/transmissive responses that can be integrated onto these biointegrated platforms are critically important for high performance operation. Here, high quality, dielectric thin‐film optical filters on unconventional substrates via transfer printing are reported. Designed filters formed on flexible substrates exhibit highly spectral selective transmission and reflection, with the maximum optical density at stop band reaching 6. Additionally, freestanding filter membranes are combined with microscale optoelectronic devices, achieving enhanced emission intensity for light‐emitting diodes and spectral sensitivity for photovoltaic detectors. Finally, their in vitro cytotoxicity is evaluated within cell culture, and in vivo biocompatibility is supported in living animals. The presented results offer viable routes to high performance optical components for advanced biointegrated optoelectronic systems.

Wavelength modulation spectroscopy near 5 $$\upmu$$m for carbon monoxide sensing in a high-pressure kerosene-fueled liquid rocket combustor

A laser absorption sensor was developed for carbon monoxide (CO) sensing in high-pressure, fuel-rich combustion gases associated with the internal conditions of hydrocarbon-fueled liquid bipropellant rockets. An absorption feature near 4.98 $$\upmu$$ m, comprised primarily of two rovibrational lines from the P-branch of the fundamental band, was selected to minimize temperature sensitivity and spectral interference with other combustion gas species at the extreme temperatures (> 3000 K) and pressures (> 50 atm) in the combustion chamber environment. A scanned wavelength modulation spectroscopy technique (1f-normalized 2f detection) is utilized to infer species concentration from CO absorption, and mitigate the influence of non-absorption transmission losses and noise associated with the harsh sooting combustor environment. To implement the sensing strategy, a continuous-wave distributed-feedback (DFB) quantum cascade laser (QCL) was coupled to a hollow-core optical fiber for remote mid-infrared light delivery to the test article, with high-bandwidth light detection by a direct-mounted photovoltaic detector. The method was demonstrated to measure time-resolved CO mole fraction over a range of oxidizer-to-fuel ratios and pressures (20–70 atm) in a single-element-injector RP-2-GOx rocket combustor.

Room temperature operation of mid-infrared InAs081Sb019 based photovoltaic detectors with an In02Al08Sb barrier layer grown on GaAs substrates

In this paper, InAs0.81Sb0.19-based hetero-junction photovoltaic detector (HJPD) with an In0.2Al0.8Sb barrier layer was grown on GaAs substrates. By using technology computer aided design (TCAD), a design of a barrier layer that can achieve nearly zero valance band offsets was accomplished. A high quality InAs0.81Sb0.19 epitaxial layer was obtained with relatively low threading dislocation density (TDD), calculated from a high-resolution X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurement. This layer showed a Hall mobility of 15,000 cm2/V⋅s, which is the highest mobility among InAsSb layers with an Sb composition of around 20% grown on GaAs substrates. Temperature dependence of dark current, photocurrent response and responsivity were measured and analyzed for fabricated HJPD. HJPD showed the clear photocurrent response having a long cutoff wavelength of 5.35 μm at room temperature. It was observed that the dark current of HJPDs is dominated by the diffusion limited current at temperatures ranging from 200K to room temperature from the dark current analysis. Peak responsivity of HJPDs exhibited the 1.18 A/W and 15 mA/W for 83K and a room temperature under zero bias condition even without anti-reflection coating (ARC). From these results, we believe that HJPDs could be an appropriate PD device for future compact and low power dissipation mid-infrared on-chip sensors and imaging devices.

Vacuum-Ultraviolet Photovoltaic Detector.

Over the past two decades, solar- and astrophysicists and material scientists have been researching and developing new-generation semiconductor-based vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) detectors with low power consumption and small size for replacing traditional heavy and high-energy-consuming microchannel-detection systems, to study the formation and evolution of stars. However, the most desirable semiconductor-based VUV photovoltaic detector capable of achieving zero power consumption has not yet been achieved. With high-crystallinity multistep epitaxial grown AlN as a VUV-absorbing layer for photogenerated carriers and p-type graphene (with unexpected VUV transmittance >96%) as a transparent electrode to collect excited holes, we constructed a heterojunction device with photovoltaic detection for VUV light. The device exhibits an encouraging VUV photoresponse, high external quantum efficiency (EQE) and extremely fast tempera response (80 ns, 104-106 times faster than that of the currently reported VUV photoconductive devices). This work has provided an idea for developing zero power consumption and integrated VUV photovoltaic detectors with ultrafast and high-sensitivity VUV detection capability, which not only allows future spacecraft to operate with longer service time and lower launching cost but also ensures an ultrafast evolution of interstellar objects.

纳秒激光辐照下HgCdTe光伏探测器的瞬态响应特性退化

纳秒激光辐照下HgCdTe光伏探测器的瞬态响应特性退化

A surface state-controlled, high-performance, self-powered photovoltaic detector based on an individual SnS nanorod with a symmetrical electrode structure

A surface state-controlled, self-powered photovoltaic detector is realized in an individual SnS nanorod-based two-terminal device with symmetrical Ag electrodes.

Study on the Theoretical Limitation of the Mid-Infrared PbSe N<sup>+</sup>-P Junction Detectors at High Operating Temperature

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.

Mid-infrared two photon absorption sensitivity of commercial detectors

We report on broad-band two-photon absorption (TPA) in several commercially available MIR inter-band bulk semiconductor photodetectors with the spectral cutoff in the range of 4.5–6 μm. The highest TPA responsivity of 2 × 10−5 A·mm2/W2 is measured for a nitrogen-cooled InSb photovoltaic detector. Its performance as a two-photon detector is validated by measuring the second-order interferometric autocorrelation function of a multimode quantum cascade laser emitting at the wavelength of 8 μm.

Gigabit free-space multi-level signal transmission with a mid-infrared quantum cascade laser operating at room temperature.

Gigabit free-space transmissions are experimentally demonstrated with a quantum cascaded laser (QCL) emitting at mid-wavelength infrared of 4.65μm, and a commercial infrared photovoltaic detector. The QCL operating at room temperature is directly modulated using on-off keying and, for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, four- and eight-level pulse amplitude modulations (PAM-4, PAM-8). By applying pre- and post-digital equalizations, we achieve up to 3 Gbit/s line data rate in all three modulation configurations with a bit error rate performance of below the 7% overhead hard decision forward error correction limit of 3.8×10-3. The proposed transmission link also shows a stable operational performance in the lab environment.

Synthesis and characterization of CdTe nanostructures grown by RF magnetron sputtering method

In this paper, we synthesize Cadmium Telluride nanostructures by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering system on soda lime glass at various thicknesses. The effect of CdTe nanostructures thickness on crystalline, optical and morphological properties has been studied by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-VIS-NIR spectrophotometry, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM), respectively. The XRD parameters of CdTe nanostructures such as microstrain, dislocation density, and crystal size have been examined. From XRD analysis, it could be assumed that increasing deposition time caused the formation of the wurtzite hexagonal structure of the sputtered films. Optical properties of the grown nanostructures as a function of film thickness have been observed. All the films indicate more than 60% transmission over a wide range of wavelengths. The optical band gap values of the films have obtained in the range of 1.62–1.45 eV. The results indicate that an RF sputtering method succeeded in depositing of CdTe nanostructures with high purity and controllable physical properties, which is appropriate for photovoltaic and nuclear detector applications.

Functionalization of graphene quantum dots by fluorine: Preparation, properties, application, and their mechanisms

Graphene quantum dots (GQDs) possess unique photoelectronic properties ascribed to quantum confinement and edge effects, which have evoked important development and wide application in the optoelectronic field. Doping GQDs with heteroatoms can further modulate the energy band structure and thus produce unexpected properties. Herein, we obtained fluorine-doped GQDs (F-GQDs) by adopting an effective preparation technique, which includes the treatment of the as-prepared reaction precursor, fluorinated carbon fibers, with ultrasonic liquid phase exfoliation. The proposed method is simple, handy, and low-cost, opening up an alternate approach to prepare F-GQDs. Through multiple characterization techniques, the effective incorporation of fluorine in GQDs was confirmed, and the as-prepared F-GQDs exhibit excellent photoelectrical properties and good ultraviolet absorption performances. Accordingly, we have fabricated a vertical photovoltaic UV detector based on F-GQDs. The unoptimized device has an exceptionally large ratio of photocurrent to dark current of magnitude ∼105, and its detectivity (D*) could stabilize at around 1012 Jones at room temperature under λ = 365 nm light irradiation and reverse bias voltage.

Spectral responsivity measurement of photovoltaic detectors by comparison with a pyroelectric detector on individual nano-second laser pulses

We demonstrate that the individual single pulse of a nano-second laser can be used to measure the spectral responsivity of photovoltaic detectors. With this new scheme, the relative spectral responsivity of a photodiode can be determined from the spectral reflectance of the surface of a pyroelectric detector. We also developed the adequate data acquisition procedure, which can eliminate systematic errors caused by the nonlinear pulse response. The method is experimentally demonstrated for Si and Ge photodiodes in a wide wavelength range from 420 nm to 1600 nm and verified by comparison with the method using a CW source.

Fabrication and characterization of high lattice matched InAs/InAsSb superlattice infrared photodetector

We have fabricated the new composition structure high-lattice-matched mid-wave infrared Ga-free InAs/InAs0.73Sb0.27 type-II superlattice (T2SL) pin photodetectors on GaSb substrates. Current-voltage and photocurrent measurements of samples were characterized with different sized mesa structures at 77K. The resulting of mid-infrared photovoltaic detectors measured at 77K exhibit a measured dark current density of 6.13×10−4A/cm2 under a bias of −300mV, a maximum differential-resistance-area-product of 448Ω·cm2 at −47mV bias, a 50% cutoff wavelength of 5.1μm, and a peak responsivity of 0.883 A/W over a mesa size of 50µm×50µm. Peak quantum efficiency of 34.6% at 2.78µm over a mesa size of 50µm×50µm, 23.3% at 2.78µm over a mesa size of 200µm×200µm, and 14.1% at 2.8µm over a mesa size of 300µm×300µm are achieved under zero bias at 77K, respectively.

Molecular dynamics growth modeling of InAs1−xSbx-based type-II superlattice

Type-II strained-layer superlattices (T2SL) based on InAs1−xSbx are a promising photovoltaic detector material technology for thermal imaging; however, Shockley–Read–Hall recombination and generation rates are still too high for thermal imagers based on InAs1−xSbx T2SL to reach their ideal performance. Molecular dynamics simulations using the Stillinger–Weber (SW) empirical potentials are a useful tool to study the growth of tetrahedral coordinated crystals and the nonequilibrium formation of defects within them, including the long-range effects of strain. SW potentials for the possible atomic interactions among {Ga, In, As, Sb} were developed by fitting to ab initio calculations of elastically distorted zinc blende and diamond unit cells. The SW potentials were tested against experimental observations of molecular beam epitaxial (MBE) growth and then used to simulate the MBE growth of InAs/InAs0.5Sb0.5 T2SL on GaSb substrates over a range of processes parameters. The simulations showed and helped to explain Sb cross-incorporation into the InAs T2SL layers, Sb segregation within the InAsSb layers, and identified medium-range defect clusters involving interstitials and their induction of interstitial-vacancy pairs. Defect formation was also found to be affected by growth temperature and flux stoichiometry.

DEATH-STAR: Silicon and Photovoltaic Fission Fragment Detector Arrays for Light-Ion Induced Fission Correlation Studies

The Direct Excitation Angular Tracking pHotovoltaic-Silicon Telescope ARray (DEATH-STAR) combines a series of 12 silicon detectors in a ΔE−E configuration for charged particle identification with a large-area array of 56 photovoltaic (solar) cells for detection of fission fragments. The combination of many scattering angles and fission fragment detectors allows for an angular-resolved tool to study reaction cross sections using the surrogate method, anisotropic fission distributions, and angular momentum transfers through stripping, transfer, inelastic scattering, and other direct nuclear reactions. The unique photovoltaic detectors efficiently detect fission fragments while being insensitive to light ions and have a timing resolution of 15.63±0.37ns. Alpha particles are detected with a resolution of 35.5keV 1σ at 7.9MeV. Measured fission fragment angular distributions are also presented.

Fast-Response Photonic Device Based on Organic-Crystal Heterojunctions Assembled into a Vertical-Yet-Open Asymmetric Architecture.

Crystalline dioctyl-3,4,9,10-perylenedicarboximide nanowires and 6,13-bis(triisopropylsilylethynyl) pentacene microplates are integrated into a vertical-yet-open asymmetrical heterojunction for the realization of a high-performance organic photovoltaic detector, which shows fast photoresponse, ultrahigh signal-to-noise ratio, and high sensitivity to weak light.

Self-driven, broadband and ultrafast photovoltaic detectors based on topological crystalline insulator SnTe/Si heterostructures

Topological crystalline insulator SnTe film/Si heterostructure were fabricated, which can function as self-driven, ultrafast and broadband photovoltaic detectors.

Broadband ultrafast photovoltaic detectors based on large-scale topological insulator Sb2Te3/STO heterostructures.

Topological insulators (TIs) are new states of quantum matter in which the spin-momentum-locked surface states reside in the bulk insulating gap and have triggered extensive investigations on fundamental properties and potential applications. Herein, we report scalable, broadband photovoltaic detectors based on the topological insulator Sb2Te3/strontium titanate (STO) heterostructure. Large-scale (2 mm × 5 mm), high crystalline quality p-type Sb2Te3 films were fabricated on an n-type STO substrate by the molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) method. The Sb2Te3/STO heterostructures exhibited pronounced photovoltaic behavior in a wide range of temperatures as a result of a strong built-in field at the hetero-interface. Superior performances of broadband (from visible to infrared, 405 nm-1550 nm) and ultrafast (rise time ∼30 μs, fall time ∼95 μs) photoresponses were achieved under ambient conditions. The prominent repeatability and stability indicated that our photodetectors can operate effectively in harsh circumstances. These results show that stacking the topological insulator thin films on a strongly correlated oxide substrate using the MBE approach holds great promise for high performance optoelectronic applications.