Cavity enhancement of Auger-suppressed detectors: a way to background-limited room-temperature operation in 3-14-/spl mu/m range

We consider the combination of nonequilibrium Auger suppression with cavity enhancement, this being either resonant cavity enhancement (RCE) or photonic crystal enhancement (PCE) as a means to suppress generation-recombination processes in intrinsic semiconductor-based long wavelength infrared detectors. The aim is to approach the background-limited operation of narrow-bandgap compound semiconductor photodetectors in the 3-14 /spl mu/m infrared wavelength range without cooling or possibly with slight cooling. Auger generation-recombination processes are suppressed utilizing exclusion, extraction, magnetoconcentration, or some of their combinations. The residual radiative recombination is removed by enclosing the detector active area into a cavity with a radiative shield (resonant cavity or photonic crystal) and using the benefits of reabsorption (photon recycling) to effectively increase radiative lifetime.