甚长波量子阱红外探测器光栅耦合的研究

采用平面波展开的散射矩阵方法研究n型甚长波量子阱红外探测器的二维衍射光栅，并同时从实验方面研究了其红外透射光谱.研究表明，n型量子阱器件的光栅耦合是传输场和倏逝场共同作用的结果.对于n型量子阱红外探测器的光栅耦合，光栅周期、光栅深度和占空比三者之间相互影响；要达到好的光学耦合效果，需要根据量子阱器件的峰值探测波长选择合适的光栅参数. 关键词： n型量子阱红外探测器 二维光栅 光耦合     

Boundary conditions of continuum states in characterizing photocurrent of GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well infrared photodetector

We study the optical transition between bound-to-continuum states in a GaAs/AlGaAs multiple quantum well infrared photodetector (QWIP) by analyzing three possible boundary conditions for the continuum states. Comparing with experimental results, it has been suggested that the Bloch-state boundary conditions are proper for continuum states in the QWIPs consisting of multiple quantum wells and the fine structures in the responsivity spectrum result from the energy dispersion relationship of the multiple quantum wells.     

Analysis and comparison of n-AlxGa1−xAs/GaAs QWIPs with different device structures and optical coupling

This paper discusses optical coupling for n-GaAs/AlGaAs multiple quantum well infrared photodetectors (MQWIPs). The optical responsivity has been compared with different grating structures fabricated by reactive ion etching (RIE), device form, and incidence mode. The optical coupling efficiencies are further analyzed by the modal expansion model (MEM), including optical field distributions in different size photosensitive element and interrelated influences with scattering matrix method based on plane-wave expansion (PWE). Some extra coupling parameters have been obtained in designing and optimizing QWIPs FPA.     

GaAs/AlGaAs量子点阵的制备及其荧光特性

采用电子束曝光和反应离子刻蚀的工艺,将GaAs/AlGaAs量子阱外延材料制成量子点阵,其光荧光谱显示出蓝移,并且蓝移量随着量子点直径尺寸的减少而增大。     

Advantages of QWIP technology in infrared thermal cameras

Standard GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well infrared photodetectors(QWIP)have been seriously considered as atechnological choice for the 3~(rd) generation of thermal imagers in the long wave infrared band(LWIR)for some time.Alternative technology like MCT(HgCdTe)was the technology choice of the 2~(nd) generation because of its high quantum efficiency.In the paper,measurements on the QWIP technology will be presented and a comparison with alternative technology will be done.     

Dark currents of GaAs/AlGaAs quantum-well infrared photodetectors

We study the dark current of the GaAs/AlGaAs quantum-well infrared photodetector (QWIP) by assuming a drift-diffusion carrier transport in the barriers where the electric fields are obtained by the current continuity condition and the self-consistent energy band structure. It has been shown that due to the current continuity condition, the dark currents across the QWIP devices are determined by the thermionic emission from the emitter to the multiple quantum well (MQW) region. The self-consistent calculation of the Schrödinger and Poisson equations shows a weak electric field in the barrier region connecting to the emitter (much smaller than the average field across the QWIP at low bias) due to the accumulation of carriers in the triangle quantum well formed at the emitter-MQW interface, which results in a very small dark current at low bias. The numerical results explain well our experimental observation.     

双色量子阱红外探测器顶部光子晶体耦合层的设计优化

采用三维时域有限差分算法(3D-FDTD)对GaAs/AlGaAs量子阱红外探测器(QWIP)的顶部光子晶体光输入耦合层结构的电磁场分布进行了仿真分析,得到了多种不同周期、占空比、深度的二维光子晶体结构耦合效率及电磁场分布.探索了一种双色探测器的光子晶体光输入耦合层结构的设计思路,使之可对中波/长波或长波双色8/12 μm同时提供较高的耦合效率. 关键词： 红外探测器 量子阱 光子晶体     

Structural and optical properties of a catalyst-free GaAs/AlGaAs core–shell nano/microwire grown on (1 1 1)Si substrate

Heterostructure in the catalyst-free GaAs nanowire grown on the Si substrate was studied for the application of optical devices in the next generation. We fabricated AlGaAs/GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well (QW) structure on the side facet of the catalyst-free GaAs nanowire grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The cathode luminescence (CL) measurement showed that the uniform GaAs quantum well was formed between AlGaAs shell layers. On the basis of this structure, we also grew the thick AlGaAs shell layers (∼700 nm) on GaAs nanowires, and observed whispering gallery mode (WGM) resonant in the thick AlGaAs hexagonal structure.     

640 × 512 pixel narrow-band, four-band, and broad-band quantum well infrared photodetector focal plane arrays

A 9 μm cutoff 640 × 512 pixel hand-held quantum well infrared photodetector (QWIP) camera has been demonstrated with excellent imagery. A noise equivalent differential temperature (NEDT) of 10.6 mK is expected at a 65 K operating temperature with f/2 optics at a 300 K background. This focal plane array has shown background limited performance at a 72 K operating temperature with the same optics and background conditions. In this paper, we discuss the development of this very sensitive long-wavelength infrared camera based on a GaAs/AlGaAs QWIP focal plane array and its performance in quantum efficiency, NEDT, uniformity, and operability. In the second section of this paper, we discuss the first demonstration of a monolithic spatially separated four-band 640 × 512 pixel QWIP focal plane array and its performance. The four spectral bands cover 4–5.5, 8.5–10, 10–12, and 13.5–15 μm spectral regions with 640 × 128 pixels in each band. In the last section, we discuss the array performance of a 640 × 512 pixel broad-band (10–16 μm full-width at half-maximum) QWIP focal plane.     

双量子阱中的子带光吸收

由于微制造技术的不断发展,如液相外延(LPE),气相外延(VPE),金属有机化学气相沉积(MOCVD)以及分子束外延技术(MBE)等先进的材料生长技术方法也日趋完善,从而使得各种低维半导体量子器件(如半导体、超晶格、量子阱、量子线和量子点等)制造日趋成熟。由于这些低维半导体量子器件具有很强的非线性光效应,而且随着材料、外形、尺寸等的不同,非线性光效应也有很大的差别,更由于其可能存在的广泛的应用前景,所以近年来,一直是人们研究的重点。近来,由于人们相信,利用GaAs／AlGaAs量子阱有可能制造出一些新型的光学仪器,如光开关、光限幅器、光调制器等,所以,对不同势形的GaAs／AlGaAs量子阱的非线性光学特性一直吸引着人们进行理论和实验的研究。而在最近几年,对双量子阱的研究也成为了人们的研究重点。通过密度矩阵和迭代的方法,得到双量子阱中的第一、第三阶子带光吸收表达式,我们将用一个典型的GaAs／AlGaAs双量子阱代入其中进行数值计算,并进行讨论。我们的计算结果显示,阱的光吸收峰不但与中间的势垒宽度有关,更与入射光强有关。     

Oscillatory mode coupling and electrically strobed gratings in photorefractive quantum-well diodes

Oscillatory mode coupling between two coherent laser beams is produced when an interference pattern moves against a quasi-static electrically strobed grating in a photorefractive AlGaAs/GaAs multiple-quantum-well diode operated in the quantum-confined Stark geometry. The oscillation frequency is equal to the frequency difference between the two laser beams and provides a method to measure high-frequency Doppler shifts or large surface displacements for laser-based ultrasound. Combined photorefractive gains (normally forbidden by symmetry in the Stark geometry) and absorptive gains approach 1200cm(-1)during two-wave mixing using moving gratings.     

Normal incidence silicon doped p-type GaAs/AlGaAs quantum-well infrared photodetector on (1 1 1)A substrate

p-type quantum-well infrared photodetectors (QWIPs) demonstrate normal incidence response due to band mixing by utilizing valence band transitions that may break the selection rule limiting n-type QWIPs. Due to even more complicated valence band structure in (1 1 1) orientation, it is interesting to see that the p-type QWIP show both absorption and photocurrent response dominant in normal incidence. The p-type GaAs/AlGaAs QWIP was fabricated on GaAs(1 1 1)A substrate by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) using silicon as dopant with a measured carrier concentration of 1.4 × 10¹⁸ cm⁻³. The photocurrent spectrum exhibits a peak at a wavelength of 7 μm with a relatively broad peak width (Δλ/λ_p  50%), indicating that the final state is far deep within the continuum of the valence band. The p-QWIP demonstrates a responsivity of about 1 mA/W, which is limited by the relatively low doping concentration.     

Adaptive Integrated Optical Bragg Grating in Semiconductor Waveguide Suitable for Optical Signal Processing

This article presents a methodology for an integrated Bragg grating using an alloy of GaAs, AlGaAs, and InGaAs with a controllable refractive index to obtain an adaptive Bragg grating suitable for many applications on optical processing and adaptive control systems, such as limitation and filtering. The refractive index of a Bragg grating is controlled by using an external electric field for controlling periodic modulation of the refractive index of the active waveguide region. The designed Bragg grating has refractive indices programmed by using that external electric field. This article presents two approaches for designing the controllable refractive indices active region of a Bragg grating. The first approach is based on the modification of a planar micro-strip structure of the iGaAs traveling wave as the active region, and the second is based on the modification of self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dots of an alloy from GaAs and InGaAs with a GaP traveling wave. The overall design and results are discussed through numerical simulation by using the finite-difference time-domain, plane wave expansion, and opto-wave simulation methods to confirm its operation and feasibility.     

Standard model of a photorefractive effect and moving grating wave-mixing in semi-insulating GaAs quantum wells

Theoretical analysis of photorefractive GaAs/AlGaAs multiple quantum well structure in a wave-mixing geometry with moving interference pattern is presented. The numerical calculations for arbitrary value of the fringe contrast were carried out by solving material equations within the band transport model with bipolar conductivity. An influence of the modulation depth and the nonlinear transport of hot-electrons on the photorefractive response is examined. Theoretical predictions are compared with the available results of moving grating experiments.     

Assessment of HgCdTe photodiodes and quantum well infrared photoconductors for long wavelength focal plane arrays

Recent trends in infrared detectors are towards large, electronically addressed two-dimensional arrays. In the long wavelength infrared (LWIR) spectral range HgCdTe focal plane arrays (FPAs) occupy a dominant position. However, the slow progress in the development of large LWIR photovoltaic HgCdTe infrared imaging arrays and the rapid achievements of novel semiconductor heterostructure systems have made it necessary to foresee the future development of different material technologies in fabrication large FPAs. Among the competing technologies in LWIR are the quantum well infrared photoconductors (QWIPs) based on lattice matched GaAs/AlGaAs and strained layer InGaAs/AlGaAs material systems. This paper compares the technical merits of two IR detector arrays technologies; photovoltaic HgCdTe and QWIPs. It is clearly shown that LWIR QWIP cannot compete with HgCdTe photodiode as the single device especially at higher temperature operation (>70 K) due to fundamental limitations associated with intersubband transitions. However, the advantage of HgCdTe is less distinct in temperature range below 50 K due to problems involved in HgCdTe material (p-type doping, Shockley–Read recombination, trap-assisted tunnelling, surface and interface instabilities). Even though the QWIP is a photoconductor, several of its properties such as high impedance, fast response time, long integration time, and low power consumption, well satisfy the requirements of fabrication of large FPAs. Due to the high material quality at low temperature, QWIP has potential advantages over HgCdTe for very LWIR (VLWIR) FPA applications in terms of the array size, uniformity, yield and cost of the systems.     

A 1 × 2 optical switch using one multimode interference region

A 1 × 2 optical switch using only one multimode interference (MMI) region is designed and demonstrated in GaAs/AlGaAs. This design makes a single MMI region works as MMI coupler using paired interference at “off” state and symmetric interference at “on” state. By injecting a current of 110 mA, the measured on/off ratio and crosstalk are 23 dB and 33 dB, respectively in the demonstrated device with GaAs/GaAlAs.     

Large format voltage tunable dual-band QWIP FPAs

Third generation thermal imagers with dual/multi-band operation capability are the prominent focus of the current research in the field of infrared detection. Dual band quantum-well infrared photodetector (QWIP) focal plane arrays (FPAs) based on various detection and fabrication approaches have been reported. One of these approaches is the three-contact design allowing simultaneous integration of the signals in both bands. However, this approach requires three In bumps on each pixel leading to a complicated fabrication process and lower fill factor.If the spectral response of a two-stack QWIP structure can effectively be shifted between two spectral bands with the applied bias, dual band sensors can be implemented with the conventional FPA fabrication process requiring only one In bump on each pixel making it possible to fabricate large format dual band FPAs at the cost and yield of single band detectors. While some disadvantages of this technique have been discussed in the literature, the detailed assessment of this approach has not been performed at the FPA level yet. We report the characteristics of a large format (640 × 512) voltage tunable dual-band QWIP FPA constructed through series connection of MWIR AlGaAs–InGaAs and LWIR AlGaAs–GaAs multi-quantum well stacks, and provide a detailed assessment of the potential of this approach at both pixel and FPA levels. The dual band FPA having MWIR and LWIR cut-off wavelengths of 5.1 and 8.9 μm provided noise equivalent temperature differences as low as 14 and 31 mK (f/1.5) with switching voltages within the limits applicable by commercial read-out integrated circuits. The results demonstrate the promise of the approach for achieving large format low cost dual band FPAs.     

Self-assembled GaAs/AlGaAs quantum dots by molecular beam epitaxy and in situ AsBr3 etching

We report on a new method to produce self-assembled, unstrained, GaAs/AlGaAs quantum dots (QDs) with large confinement energy. First we create nanoholes on a GaAs surface by growing InAs islands on GaAs(0 0 1), overgrowing them with GaAs and etching the surface in situ with AsBr₃ gas. Then we transfer the holes to an AlGaAs surface, fill them with GaAs and overgrow them with AlGaAs. In this way we obtain GaAs inclusions in an AlGaAs matrix. We investigate the optical properties of such QDs by photoluminescence spectroscopy and their morphology by atomic force microscopy. We show that the QD size can be tuned and emission with inhomogeneous broadening down to 8.9 meV can be achieved.     

Four-band quantum well infrared photodetector array

A four-band quantum well infrared photodetector (QWIP) focal plane array (FPA) has been demonstrated by stacking different multi-quantum well structures, which are sensitive in 4–5.5, 8.5–10, 10–12, and 13–15.5 μm infrared bands. This 640 × 514 format FPA consists of four 640 × 128 pixel areas which are capable of acquiring images in these infrared bands. In this application, instead of quarter wevelength groove depth grating reflectors, three-quarter wavelength groove depth reflectors were used to couple radiation to each QWIP layer. This technique allows us to optimize the light coupling to each QWIP stack at corresponding pixels while keeping the pixel (or mesa) height at the same level, which will be essential for indium bump-bonding with the multiplexer. In addition to light coupling, these gratings serve as a contact to the active stack while shorting the unwanted stacks. Flexible QWIP design parameters, such as well width, barrier thickness, doping density, and the number of periods, were cleverly exploited to optimize the performance of each detector while accommodating requirements set by the deep groove light coupling gratings. For imaging, detector array is operated at temperature T=45 K, and each detector shows a very high D^*>1×10¹¹ cm  /W for 300 K background with f/2 optics. This initial array gave excellent images with 99.9% of the pixels working, demonstrating the high yield of GaAs technology.     

基于表面等离激元的长波QWIP光栅优化

为了提高长波量子阱红外探测器的灵敏度及探测率,采用表面等离激元效应来提高量子阱红外探测器中二维光栅的耦合效率。利用三维时域有限差分算法,分析表面等离激元作用下,长波量子阱红外探测器中二维金属薄膜光栅参数对入射光的调制作用。计算结果表明,对于8 m的入射光,当光栅周期P=2.8 m,孔直径D=1.4 m,光栅层厚度L=0.04 m时,X Y平面内Z方向电场值最大,光栅的耦合效率最高。