Design and fabrication of multi-channel photodetector array monolithic with arrayed waveguide grating

We have provided optical simulations of the evanescently coupled waveguide photodiodes integrated with a 13-channels AWGs. The photodiode could exhibit high internal efficiency by appropriate choice of layers geometry and refractive index. Aseamless joint structure has been designed and fabricated for integrating the output waveguides of AWGs with the evanescently coupled waveguide photodiode array. The highest simulation quantum efficiency could achieve 92% when the matching layer thickness of the PD is 120 nm and the insertion length is 2 μm. The fabricated PD with 320-nm-thick matching layer and 2-μm-length insertion matching layer present a responsivity of 0.87 A/W.     

A Silicon-Based Positive-Intrinsic-Negative Photodetector Double Linear Array on a Thick Intrinsic Epitaxial Layer

To measure small particles in clouds without the optical amplification system, a new type of p-i-n photodetector linear array with 128 diode units altogether is designed and realized. In each die, there are two rows of photodiode line array, and each row has 64 photodiodes. Every photodiode has a size of 100 μm × 100 μm with an individual output, and each of them is isolated by the trenches. The depth of them has the same thickness as that of the epitaxial layer, which is designed to be 30 μm to guarantee sufficient absorption of photons and leave a margin for the diffusion of p-type and n-type region. The detector has been tested with a laser whose wavelength was 650nm and irradiance is 50mW/cm2. The achieved photocurrent is 2μA. Hence, the current responsivity is about 0.4A/W, and the external quantum efficiency is 76.45%. The dark current is less than 600pA. Both of the sufficient absorption of photons and low dark current are achieved by utilizing the thick epitaxial intrinsic layer. Low interference of adjacent photodiodes is also guaranteed by the trenches around the photodiodes. With the obtained performance, the photodetector can be used to measure the diameter of precipitation particles in clouds. Therefore, rainfall can be judged based on the diameter of particles.     

Fabrication and characterization of novel high-speed In GaAs/InP uni-traveling-carrier photodetector for high responsivity

A top-illuminated circular mesa uni-traveling-carrier photodetector(UTC-PD) is proposed in this paper. By employing Gaussian graded doping in In Ga As absorption layer and In P depleted layer, the responsivity and high speed response characteristics of the device are optimized simultaneously. The responsivity up to 1.071 A/W(the external quantum efficiency of 86%) is obtained at 1550 nm with a 40-μm diameter device under 10-V reverse bias condition. Meanwhile, the dark current of 7.874 n A and the 3-d B bandwidth of 11 GHz are obtained with the same device at a reverse bias voltage of3 V.     

Thermal expanded core ultraviolet fiber for optical cavity mode matching

We have demonstrated a mode matching method between two different fibers by a hybrid thermal expanded core technique, which can be applied to match the modes of fiber-based Fabry–Pérot cavities. Experimentally, this method has achieved an expansion of the ultraviolet fiber core by 3.5 times while keeping fundamental mode propagation. With the experiment parameters, the fundamental mode coupling efficiency between the fiber and micro-cavity can reach 95% for a plano-concave cavity with a length of 400 μm. This method can not only have potential in quantum photonics research but also can be applied in classical optical fields.     

Numerical analysis of In0.53Ga0.47As/InP single photon avalanche diodes

A rigorous theoretical model for In 0.53 Ga 0.47 As/InP single photon avalanche diode is utilized to investigate the dependences of single photon quantum efficiency and dark count probability on structure and operation condition.In the model,low field impact ionizations in charge and absorption layers are allowed,while avalanche breakdown can occur only in the multiplication layer.The origin of dark counts is discussed and the results indicate that the dominant mechanism that gives rise to dark counts depends on both device structure and operating condition.When the multiplication layer is thicker than a critical thickness or the temperature is higher than a critical value,generation-recombination in the absorption layer is the dominative mechanism;otherwise band-to-band tunneling in the multiplication layer dominates the dark counts.The thicknesses of charge and multiplication layers greatly affect the dark count and the peak single photon quantum efficiency and increasing the multiplication layer width may reduce the dark count probability and increase the peak single photon quantum efficiency.However,when the multiplication layer width exceeds 1 μm,the peak single photon quantum efficiency increases slowly and it is finally saturated at the quantum efficiency of the single photon avalanche diodes.     

Effect of Hydrostatic Pressure on Interband Transitions in Coupled Quantum Wires

We calculate the exciton binding energy and interband optical absorption in a rectangular coupled quantum wire under the hydrostatic pressure in the effective-mass approximation, using the variational approach. It is found that the interband optical absorption strongly depend on the hydrostatic pressure and the coupling parameter, and that the magnitude of the absorption coefficient for the HH1-E1 transition in the coupled quantum wire is larger than that of the single quantum wire.     

External quantum efficiency-enhanced Pt Si Schottky-barrier detector utilizing plasmonic ZnO:Al nanoparticles and subwavelength gratings

A infrared light trapping structure combining front subwavelength gratings and rear Zn O:Al nanoparticles for a Pt Si Schottky-barrier detector over a 3–5 μm waveband is theoretically investigated. By selecting the proper plasmonic material and optimizing the parameters for the proposed structure, the absorption of the Pt Si layer is dramatically improved. The theoretical results show that this improvement eventually translates into an equivalent external quantum efficiency(EQE) enhancement of 2.46 times at 3–3.6 μm and 2.38 times at 3.6–5 μm compared to conventional structures. This improvement in the EQE mainly lies in the increase of light path lengths within the Pt Si layer by the subwavelength grating diffraction and nanoparticle-scattering effects.     

Optical absorption and electromagnetically induced transparency in semiconductor quantum well driven by intense terahertz field

An approach for solving the excitonic absorption in a semiconductor quantum well driven by an intense terahertz field is presented.The formalism relies on the stationary single-photon Schro¨dinger equation in the full quantum mechanical framework.The optical absorption dynamics in both weak and strong couplings are discussed and compared.The excitonic absorption spectra show the Autler-Townes doublets for the resonance terahertz field,a replica peak for the non-resonance terahertz field,and the electromagnetically induced transparency phenomenon for modulating the decay rate of the second electron state in the weak coupling.In particular,the electromagnetically induced transparency phenomenon window range is discussed.In the strong coupling region,the multi-order energy level resonance splitting due to the strong optical field is found.There are three(non-resonance terahertz field) or four(resonance terahertz field) peaks in the optical absorption spectra.This work provides a simple and convenient approach to deal with the optical absorption in the exciton system.     

Exciton—Phonon Scattering in CdSe／ZnSe Quantum Dots

A temperature-dependent photoluminescence measurement is performed in CdSe/ZnSe quantum dots with a ZnCdSe quantum well.We deduce the temperature dependence of the exciton linewidth and peak energy of the zero-dimensional exciton in the quantum dots and two-dimensional exciton in the CdSe wetting layer.The experimental data reveal a reduction of homogeneous broadening of the exciton line in the quantum dots in comparison with that in the two-dimensional wetting layer,which indicates the decrease of exciton and optical phonon coupling in the CdSe quantum dots.     

Highly efficient blue organic light-emitting diodes using various hole and electron confinement layers

In this Letter, blue phosphorescence organic light-emitting diodes(PHOLEDs) employ structures for electron and/or hole confinement; 1,3,5-tris(N-phenylbenzimiazole-2-yl)benzene is used as a hole confinement layer and tris-(phenylpyrazole)iridium [IreppzT3] is utilized for an electron confinement layer(ECL). The electrical and optical properties of the fabricated blue PHOLEDs with various carrier-confinement structures are analyzed.Structures with a large energy offset between the carrier confinement and emitting layers enhance the charge-carrier balance in the emitting region, resulting from the effective carrier confinement. The maximum external quantum efficiency of the blue PHOLEDs with the double-ECLs is 24.02% at 1500 cd∕m2and its luminous efficiency is 43.76 cd∕A, which is 70.47% improved compared to the device without a carrier-confinement layer.     

Internal quantum efficiency drop induced by the heat generation inside of light emitting diodes （LEDs）

The reasons for low output power of AlGaInP Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) have been analysed. LEDs with AlGaInP material have high internal but low external quantum efficiency and much heat generated inside especially at a large injected current which would reduce both the internal and external quantum efficiencies. Two kinds of LEDs with the same active region but different window layers have been fabricated. The new window layer composed of textured 0.5 μm GaP and thin Indium-Tin-Oxide film has shown that low external quantum efficiency (EQE) has serious impaction on the internal quantum efficiency (IQE), because the carrier distribution will change with the body temperature increasing due to the heat inside, and the test results have shown the evidence of LEDs with lower output power and bigger wavelength red shift.     

Enhanced performance of a solar cell based on a layer-by-layer self-assembled luminescence down-shifting layer of core–shell quantum dots

In this paper, core–shell quantum dots(QDs) with two polar surface functional groups(ZnSe/ZnS–COOH QDs and ZnSe/ZnS–NH_2 QDs) are synthesized in an aqueous phase. Photoluminescence(PL) and absorption spectra clearly indicate luminescence down-shifting(LDS) properties. On the basis of QDs, surface functional group multilayer LDS films(MLDSs) are fabricated through an electrostatic layer-by-layer(LBL) self-assembly method. The PL intensity increases linearly with the number of bilayers, showing a regular and uniform film growth. When the M-LDS is placed on the surface of a Si-based solar cell as an optical conversion layer for the first time, the external quantum efficiency(EQE) and shortcircuit current density(Jsc) notably increases for the LDS process. The EQE response improves in a wavelength region extending from the UV region to the blue region, and its maximum increase reaches more than 15% between 350 nm and 460 nm.     

Hole transporting material 5, 10, 15-tribenzyl-5H-diindolo[3, 2-a:3',2'-c]-carbazole for efficient optoelectronic applications as an active layer

In order to explore the novel application of the transparent hole-transporting material 5,10,15-tribenzyl-5Hdiindolo[3,2-a:3',2'-c]-carbazole(TBDI),in this article TBDI is used as an active layer but not a buffer layer in a photodetector(PD),organic light-emitting diode(OLED),and organic photovoltaic cell(OPV) for the first time.Firstly,the absorption and emission spectra of a blend layer comprised of TBDI and electron-transporting material bis-(2-methyl-8-quinolinate) 4-phenylphenolate(BAlq) are investigated.Based on the absorption properties,an organic PD with a peak absorption at 320 nm is fabricated,and a relatively-high detectivity of 2.44×10~(11) cm· Hz~(1/2)/W under 320-nm illumination is obtained.The TBDI/tris(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum(Alq_3) OLED device exhibits a comparable external quantum efficiency and current efficiency to a traditional 4,4-bis[N-(l-naphthyl)-N-phenyl-amino]biphenyl(α-NPD)/Alq_3 OLED.A C_(70)-based Schottky junction with 5 wt%-TBDI yields a power conversion efficiency of 5.0%,which is much higher than 1.7%for an α-NPD-based junction in the same configuration.These results suggest that TBDI has some promising properties which are in favor of the hole-transporting in Schottky junctions with a low-concentration donor.     

Enhanced absorption properties of ordered mesoporous carbon/Co-doped ordered mesoporous carbon double-layer absorbers

Ordered mesoporous carbon (OMC) and metal-doped (M-doped) OMC composites are prepared, and their electromagnetic (EM) parameters are measured. Using the measured EM parameters we calculate the EM wave absorption properties of a double-layer absorber, which is composed of OMC as an absorbing layer and M-doped OMC as the matching layer. The calculated results show that the EM wave absorption performance of OMC/OMC-Co (2.2mm/2.1mm) is improved remarkably. The obtained effective absorption bandwidth is up to 10.3 GHz and the minimum reflection loss reaches 47.6 dB at 14.3 GHz. The enhanced absorption property of OMC/OMC-Co can be attributed to the impedance match between the air and the absorber. Moreover, it can be found that for the absorber with a given matching layer, a larger value of -tanδε (= tan δε absorbing tan δε matching ) can induce better absorption performance, indicating that the difference in impedance between the absorbing layer and the matching layer plays an important role in improving the absorption property of double-layer absorbers.     

Linear and Nonlinear Optical Absorptions of a Hydrogenic Donor in a Quantum Dot Under a Magnetic Field

The linear and nonlinear optical properties of a hydrogenic donor in a disc-like parabolic quantum dot in the presence of an external magnetic field are studied. The calculations were performed within the effective mass approximation, using the matrix diagonalization method and the compact density-matrix approach. The linear and nonlinear optical absorption coefficients between the ground （L =0） and the first excited state （L = 1） have been examined based on the computed energies and wave functions. We find that the linear, nonlinear third-order, and total optical absorption coefficients are strongly affected by the confinement strength of QDs, the external magnetic field, and the incident optical intensity.     

Spin-dependent electron transport of a waveguide with Rashba spin--orbit coupling in an electromagnetic field

We investigate theoretically the spin-dependent electron transport in a straight waveguide with Rashba spin--orbit coupling (SOC) under the irradiation of a transversely polarized electromagnetic (EM) field. Spin-dependent electron conductance and spin polarization are calculated as functions of the emitting energy of electrons or the strength of the EM field by adopting the mode matching approach. It is shown that the spin polarization can be manipulated by external parameters when the strength of Rashba SOC is strong. Furthermore, a sharp step structure is found to exist in the total electron conductance. These results can be understood by the nontrivial Rashba subbands intermixing and the electron intersubband transition when a finite-range transversely polarized EM field irradiates a straight waveguide.     

Large spot size and low-divergence angle operation of 917-nm edge-emitting semiconductor laser with an asymmetric waveguide structure

GaInAs/AlGaAs comprehensive-strained three-quantum-well lasers with asymmetric waveguide are designed and optimized. With this design, the optical field in the transverse direction is extended, and a semiconductor laser with large spot is obtained. For a 300-μm cavity length and 100-μm aperture device under continuous wave (CW) operation, the measured vertical and horizontal far-field divergence angles are 12.2° and 3.0°, respectively. The slope efficiency is 0.44 W/A and the lasing wavelength is 917 nm.The equivalent transverse spot size is 3 μm for the fundamental transverse mode, which is a sufficiently large value for the purpose of coupling and manipulation of light.     

Improvement of characteristics of an InGaN light-emitting diode by using a staggered AlGaN electron-blocking layer

The optical and physical properties of an InGaN light-emitting diode (LED) with a specific design of a staggered AlGaN electron-blocking layer (EBL) are investigated numerically in detail. The electrostatic field distribution, energy band, carrier concentration, electroluminescence (EL) intensity, internal quantum efficiency (IQE), and the output power are simulated. The results reveal that this specific design has a remarkable improvement in optical performance compared with the design of a conventional LED. The lower electron leakage current, higher hole injection efficiency, and consequently mitigated efficiency droop are achieved. The significant decrease of electrostatic field at the interface between the last barrier and the EBL of the LED could be one of the main reasons for these improvements.     

Effect of compensation doping on the electrical and optical properties of mid-infrared type-II InAs/GaSb superlattice photodetectors

This paper presents a theoretical study on the electrical and optical properties of mid-infrared type-II InAs/GaSb superlattices with different beryllium concentrations in the InAs layer of the active region. Dark current, resistance-area product, absorption coefficient and quantum efficiency characteristics are thoroughly examined. The superlattice is residually n-type and it becomes slightly p-type by varying beryllium-doping concentrations, which improves its electrical performances. The optical performances remain almost unaffected with relatively low p-doping levels and begin to deteriorate with increasing p-doping density. To make a compromise between the electrical and optical performances, the photodetector with a doping concentration of 3 × 1015 cm-3 in the active region is believed to have the best overall performances.     

Enhanced absorption process in the thin active region of GaAs based p–i–n structure

The optical absorption is the most important macroscopic process to characterize the microscopic optical transition in the semiconductor materials. Recently, great enhancement has been observed in the absorption of the active region within a p–n junction. In this paper, Ga As based p–i–n samples with the active region varied from 100 nm to 3 μm were fabricated and it was observed that the external quantum efficiencies are higher than the typical results, indicating a new mechanism beyond the established theories. We proposed a theoretical model about the abnormal optical absorption process in the active region within a strong electric field, which might provide new theories for the design of the solar cells,photodetectors, and other photoelectric devices.