Design of resonant-cavity-enhanced multi-band photodetectors

A theoretical analysis to improve the quantum efficiency of detectors sensing in multiple spectral bands is presented. The effective coupling between the incoming light and multiple absorbing regions for simultaneously improving the multi-band absorption efficiency is obtained by using resonant-cavity structures. An optimized cavity with only a Au bottom reflector gives rise to an enhancement factor of 11 in absorption compared to the conventional detector without the cavity. Further improvement, by a factor of 26, can be attained with the aid of a dual-band Bragg reflector placed at the top. The resulting multi-band resonant-cavity detector increases the response in three out of four detection bands contributing to the spectral range from visible to long-wave infrared (IR). The optimized detector is capable of serving multiple purposes, such as regular IR detection for atmospheric windows, gas sensing, and for optical communications. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3626812]