Interband cascade (IC) infrared (IR) photodetectors (ICIPs) are a new type of infrared detectors based on quantum-engineered InAs/GaSb/AlSb heterostructures. They combine the features of conventional interband photodiodes with the discrete nature of quantum-well IR photodetectors (QWIPs). The operation of ICIPs takes advantage of fast intersubband relaxation and interband tunneling for carrier transport, and relatively slow interband transitions (long lifetime) for photon generation. As such, ICIPs can be optimized for specific application requirements, such as higher temperature operation or lower noise. By adopting a finite type-II InAs/GaSb superlattice (SL) as the absorber, we have demonstrated mid-IR ICIPs with low noise and photovoltaic operation. In this paper, we report some of our recent efforts in the development of mid-IR ICIPs for high temperature operations. The ICIP devices with a cut-off wavelength of 3.8 μm exhibit a resistance-area product of 2.65×10⁶ and 6.36×10³Ωcm² at 80 and 160 K, respectively.

Date Published: 20 May 2011
PDF: 9 pages
Proc. SPIE 8012, Infrared Technology and Applications XXXVII, 80122U (20 May 2011); doi: 10.1117/12.884216

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 8012:
Infrared Technology and Applications XXXVII
Bjørn F. Andresen; Gabor F. Fulop; Paul R. Norton, Editor(s)