Quasi-planar InGaAsSb p-B-n photodiodes for spectroscopic sensing

An InGaAsSb p -B-n structure has been designed and characterized for zero bias low power detection applications. Devices were grown by molecular beam epitaxy and fabricated into quasi-planar photodiodes with a 2.25 mu m cut-off wavelength. Maximum responsivity was measured to be 1.05 A/W at 2.0 mu m, achieved at zero bias. D* of 9.4 x 1010 Jones was determined from room temperature spectra of noise power measurements with calculated D* remaining >1 x 1010 Jones up to 380 K. With a view to simple miniaturized detection and measurement of low concentration biomarkers, optical powers down to 40 pW were detected, without temperature stabilization or phase-sensitive detection, indicating the photodiode's potential.Published by Optica Publishing Group under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

Automated summary

An InGaAsSb p-B-n structure is designed and characterized for zero bias low power detection applications. The quasi-planar photodiodes with a 2.25 μm cut-off wavelength achieved a maximum responsivity of 1.05 A/W at 2.0 μm. The D* value was determined to be 9.4 x 1010 Jones, remaining >1 x 1010 Jones up to 380 K. The photodiode demonstrated potential for simple miniaturized detection and measurement of low concentration biomarkers, detecting optical powers as low as 40 pW without temperature stabilization or phase-sensitive detection.