Quantum dot quantum cascade infrared photodetector

We demonstrate an InAs quantum dot quantum cascade infrared photodetector operating at room temperature with a peak detection wavelength of 4.3 mu m. The detector shows sensitive photoresponse for normal-incidence light, which is attributed to an intraband transition of the quantum dots and the following transfer of excited electrons on a cascade of quantum levels. The InAs quantum dots for the infrared absorption were formed by making use of self-assembled quantum dots in the Stranski-Krastanov growth mode and two-step strain-compensation design based on InAs/GaAs/InGaAs/InAlAs heterostructure, while the following extraction quantum stairs formed by LO-phonon energy are based on a strain-compensated InGaAs/InAlAs chirped superlattice. Johnson noise limited detectivities of 3.64 x 10(11) and 4.83 x 10(6) Jones at zero bias were obtained at 80K and room temperature, respectively. Due to the low dark current and distinct photoresponse up to room temperature, this device can form high temperature imaging. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.