Measurements of low-frequency noise of type-II superlattice detectors designed for mid-IR wavelengths are used to determine noise limitations, calculate the real detectivity, and study 1/f noise-current correlations in these devices. No 1/f noise connected to the diffusion current is found as opposed to the generation-recombination, shunt, and tunneling currents. The contribution from the shunt current to 1/f noise can be so large that shunt-originated noise dominates in the high-temperature region, in which current is limited by the generation-recombination and diffusion components. It is also demonstrated that devices made of type-II superlattice contain traps generating random processes with thermally activated kinetics, and the activation energies of these traps are determined.

Date Published: 30 August 2017
PDF: 10 pages
Proc. SPIE 10404, Infrared Sensors, Devices, and Applications VII, 1040402 (30 August 2017); doi: 10.1117/12.2272722

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 10404:
Infrared Sensors, Devices, and Applications VII
Paul D. LeVan; Ashok K. Sood; Priyalal Wijewarnasuriya; Arvind I. D'Souza, Editor(s)