Theoretical modeling and experimental characterization of InAs/InGaAs quantum dots in a well detector

Theoretical modeling and experimental characterization of InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots-in-a-well (DWELL) intersubband heterostructures, grown by molecular beam epitaxy are reported. In this heterostructure, the self-assembled dots are confined to the top half of a 110 Angstrom InGaAs well which in turn is placed in a GaAs matrix. Using transmission electron microscopy, the quantum dots are found to be pyramidal in shape with a base dimension of 110 Angstrom and height of 65 Angstrom. The band structure for the above mentioned DWELL heterostructure was theoretically modeled using a Bessel function expansion of the wave function. The energy levels of the three lowest states of the conduction band of the quantum dot are calculated as a function of the electric field. Intersubband n-i-n detectors were fabricated using a ten layer DWELL heterostructure. The spectral response of the detector is measured at a temperature between 30 and 50 K and compared with the prediction of our theoretical model. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.