Impact ionization in THz QWIPs

Author

Delga, A. ; Buffaz, A. ; Doyennette, L. ; Lhuillier, E. ; Jasnot, F.R. ; De Vaulchier, L.A. ; Wasilewski, Z.R. ; Liu, H.C. ; Berger, V.

Author_Institution

Lab. MPQ, Univ. Paris Diderot, Paris, France

fYear

2009

fDate

21-25 Sept. 2009

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

2

Abstract

Recently phase transitions in THz quantum wells inter-subband photodetectors (QWIP) were observed. Very large current discontinuities - up to five orders of magnitude - were obtained, at low temperature. Quantum well impact ionization shifts the structure from a resistive ldquodownrdquo state, where the current flows through inter-well quantum tunneling to a highly conductive ldquouprdquo state. In this paper, thanks to the analysis of the bias versus current ldquosrdquo curve, an accurate investigation of impact ionization processes in quantum wells is analyzed. The use of these phenomena for high sensitivity quantum well THz detection will be presented.

Keywords

impact ionisation; phase transformations; photodetectors; quantum well devices; terahertz wave detectors; THz quantum wells intersubband photodetectors; conductive up state; current discontinuities; high sensitivity detection; interwell quantum tunneling; phase transitions; quantum well THz detection; quantum well impact ionization; resistive down state; Impact ionization;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Infrared, Millimeter, and Terahertz Waves, 2009. IRMMW-THz 2009. 34th International Conference on

Conference_Location

Busan

Print_ISBN

978-1-4244-5416-7

Electronic_ISBN

978-1-4244-5417-4

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/ICIMW.2009.5325592

Filename

5325592