Performance Characteristics of an Infrared Photo Detector Using Intersuband Junctions in Quantum Wells Based on Gallium Nitride

Abstract

A simulation procedure for analyzing the electrical and optical characteristics of an AlGaN/GaN intersubband quantum well middle-wavelength infrared photodetector is presented. The photoconductive gain spectrum was simulated by coupling the drift-diffusion and capture-escape models in the active region of the device structure and by ignoring the contribution of radiative emission. It was shown that the photodetector at zero bias is sensitive over a spectral range from 4 to 6 um, with the peak absorption occurring at 4.64 um. The dependence of the available photocurrent on both the wavelength and the angle of incidence of an unpolarized monochromatic beam of light was also evaluated. An assessment of the dark current characteristics was estimated at various temperatures.