Title :
Quantum Cascade Detectors
Author :
Giorgetta, Fabrizio R. ; Baumann, Esther ; Graf, Marcel ; Yang, Quankui ; Manz, Christian ; Köhler, Klaus ; Beere, Harvey E. ; Ritchie, David A. ; Linfield, Edmund ; Davies, Alexander G. ; Fedoryshyn, Yuriy ; Jäckel, Heinz ; Fischer, Milan ; Faist, Jérôme
Author_Institution :
Univ. of Neuchatel, Neuchatel, Switzerland
Abstract :
This paper gives an overview on the design, fabrication, and characterization of quantum cascade detectors. They are tailorable infrared photodetectors based on intersubband transitions in semiconductor quantum wells that do not require an external bias voltage due to their asymmetric conduction band profile. They thus profit from favorable noise behavior, reduced thermal load, and simpler readout circuits. This was demonstrated at wavelengths from the near infrared at 2 mum to THz radiation at 87 mum using different semiconductor material systems.
Keywords :
infrared detectors; photodetectors; quantum well devices; readout electronics; semiconductor device noise; infrared photodetectors; intersubband transitions; noise behavior; quantum cascade detectors; readout circuits; semiconductor quantum wells; thermal load; wavelength 2 mum; wavelength 87 mum; Conducting materials; Detectors; Electrons; Fabrication; Laboratories; NIST; Photoconducting materials; Photodetectors; Semiconductor materials; Voltage; Intersubband photodetectors; high-speed semiconductor photodetectors; quantum cascade detector;
Journal_Title :
Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of
DOI :
10.1109/JQE.2009.2017929
