High performance III-V quantum dot photodetectors for low SWaP infrared devices

红外辐射覆盖了从0.78微米到1000微米的宽电磁光谱。根据普朗克定律，在合理的温度下，所有物体都会辐射出很大一部分红外辐射，例如&lt；6000 K(太阳表面温度)。因此，红外光子系统可以应用于许多领域，如自由空间通信、遥感、监测、光谱分析和危险检测。这些应用中的许多都需要高性能和高工作温度。该项目的重点是为小尺寸、重量和功率(交换)设备实现高性能的III-V量子点红外光电探测器。具有高量子效率的高工作温度(热)III-V光电探测器在技术上具有重要意义，因为使用成熟的III-V半导体可以显著降低制造和材料成本。更重要的是，热敏光电探测器降低了冷却要求，使红外系统可以低交换。尽管在过去二十年中取得了巨大的进步，但由于现有技术的固有缺陷，对交换式红外光电探测器(特别是波长为2微米的红外探测器)的需求变得越来越迫切，但尚未得到满足。这项工作提出开发III-V量子点红外探测器作为高性能的热探测器。通过利用新的设计和量子结构，有可能提高量子效率和降低暗电流，这提供了一种接近基本探测极限的方法。鉴于量子点对缺陷不敏感，将硅电子学和III-V红外传感技术相结合的潜力也为中红外硅光子学提供了一个独特的机会，用于传感和自由空间通信，这利用了为光学集成电路和数据通信开发的近红外硅光子学。

Infrared radiation covers a wide electromagnetic spectrum from 0.78 to 1000 um. According to Planck's law, all objects radiate a large portion of infrared radiation at reasonable temperatures, e.g. <6000 K (the surface temperature of the Sun). As a result, infrared photonic systems can be applied to many fields, such as free-space communication, remote sensing, surveillance, spectroscopy, and hazard detection. Many of these applications require both high performance and high operating temperature. The focus of this project is on achieving high performance III-V quantum dot infrared photodetectors for low size, weight, and power (SWaP) devices. High operating temperature (HOT) III-V photodetectors with high quantum efficiency are technically important because the use of mature III-V semiconductors can significantly reduce the fabrication and material cost. More importantly, HOT photodetectors reduce the cooling requirements so that infrared systems can be low SWaP. Despite tremendous progress made in the last two decades, the demand for SWaP infrared photodetectors (particularly for wavelengths >2 micron) becomes increasingly urgent and yet to be met due to intrinsic drawbacks of existing technologies. This work proposes to exploit III-V quantum dot infrared photodetectors for high performance HOT photodetectors. By utilizing new designs and quantum structures, it is possible to improve the quantum efficiency and reduce the dark current, which provide a means of approaching the fundamental detectivity limit. Given that quantum dots are insensitive to defects, the potential of combining silicon electronics and III-V infrared sensing technology also provide a unique opportunity towards mid-infrared Si photonics for sensing and free-space communication, which leverages the near-infrared Si photonics developed for optical integrated circuits and data communication.