Ultrafast 1.55 μm sensitive photoconductor obtained by ion-irradiated InGaAs layer

Ion-irradiated InGaAs lattice-matched to InP has been explored in this work and used as the active layer of new photoconductors. Photoconductors with an ion-irradiated InGaAs layer of 0.3 μm thickness have been fabricated and the samples were grown by metal organic vapor phase epitaxy lattice-matched to InP substrate. The InGaAs layers were irradiated either by 200 MeV heavy-ion (Au⁺) at fluences from 1×10¹⁰ to 1×10¹² ions/cm² or by 1MeV light ion (H⁺) at fluences from 1×10¹³ to 1×10¹⁵ cm². Hall measurements have also been performed on ion irradiated InGaAs layers. We have shown that the ion irradiation of InGaAs layers provides subpicosecond carrier lifetime while preserving good electrical properties of the material. Ion-irradiated InGaAs is very promising for the fabrication of 1.55 μm ultrafast sensitive photoconductors.