Nonlinear response of quantum well infrared photodetectors under low-background and low-temperature conditions

Hubbs, John E.; Arrington, Douglas C.; Gramer, Mark E.; Dole, Gary A.

doi:10.1117/1.1308491

Cited by 14 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…hysteresis loop 3 for the tunneling current as a function of device temperature in QWTPs. A completely different physical mechanism behind this thermal hysteresis loop will be provided compared to the interpretation given by Choi et al 2 We also report on the dynamical breakdown of QWTPs observed in our experiment and we elucidate the physics of this phenomenon. In addition, an explanation of the previously observed emission-current spike by Hubbs et al 2 when an optical shutter is opened will be provided.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 82%

Thermal hysteresis loop, dynamical breakdown, and emission-current spike in quantum-well photodetectors

Huang

Morath

Cardimona

et al. 2001

Journal of Applied Physics

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Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing this collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden to Department of Defense, Washington Headquarters Services, Directorate for Information SPONSORING / MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 10. SPONSOR/MONITOR'S ACRONYM(S) SPONSOR/MONITOR'S REPORT NUMBER(S)12. DISTRIBUTION / AVAILABILITY STATEMENT Approved for Public Release; Distribution is Unlimited. 14. ABSTRACT A nonabiabatic sequential-tunneling model is developed and applied to explore the common origin of the transient behavior of electrons in quantum-well photodetectors in the presence of different time-dependent external sources, including device temperature, electric field, and incident optical flux. For the time-dependent temperature, a counterclockwise hysteresis loop in the tunneling current as a function of the swept temperature is predicted and attributed to a blockade or an enhancement of the sequential tunneling of electrons between quantum wells by the space-charge-field effect when the device temperature is swept up and then down. When a time-dependent electric field is applied, a dynamical breakdown of the photodetectors is predicted, where the peak of total current linearly increases with the frequency of an ac electric field from its static value under a dc field. This is due to the presence of an additional dielectric current, which is proportional to the oscillation frequency of the ac electric field and whose peak value becomes larger than the value of the saturated tunneling-current peak in the high-frequency domain. Under the dynamical-breakdown condition, the quantum-well photodetectors behave just like a uniform dielectric medium. In the presence of a time-dependent optical flux, an emission-current spike is predicted as a result of the dominant enhancement of the escape probability of electrons from quantum wells over the loss of electron density when an applied dc electric field is small. The experimental observations of the transient behavior of electrons in quantum-well photodetectors are successfully reproduced by our numerical calculations. A nonadiabatic sequential-tunneling model is developed and applied to explore the common origin of the transient behavior of electrons in quantum-well photodetectors in the presence of different time-dependent external sources, including device temperature, electric field, and incident optical flux. For the time-dependent temperature, a counterclockwise hysteresis loop in the tunneling current as a function of the swept temperature is predicted and attributed to a blockade or an enhancement of the sequential tunneling of electrons between quantum wells by the space-charge-field effect when the device temperat...

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 82%

Thermal hysteresis loop, dynamical breakdown, and emission-current spike in quantum-well photodetectors

Huang

Morath

Cardimona

et al. 2001

Journal of Applied Physics

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“…Later, a roll-off of the dynamical responsivity in QWIPs was observed when the frequency of a chopped incident optical flux was increased beyond a certain value [3]. More recently, a counterclockwise hysteresis loop for the tunneling current and a clockwise hysteresis loop for the emission current in QWIPs was seen experimentally as the device temperature was swept up from 10 to 300 K and then back down [4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Physics of non-adiabatic transport and field-domain effect in quantum-well infrared photodetectors

Huang

Cardimona

2003

Infrared Physics & Technology

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“…According to the relationships (9), (10), for a given value of the current I, the current noise power spectrum should therefore vary as 1/N and the responsivity should be independent of N. However, deviations of the behavior of the dynamic and static photoresponse [7][8][9][10][11] and of the noise power spectra [26,27] have been reported.…”

Section: Noise Model For a Continuous Distribution Of Generation-recomentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Despite the relatively simple structure of the QWIPs, the physical processes responsible for their operation is fairly complex [7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. It has been shown that the non-uniformity of the space charge regions over the quantum well periods may affect the QWIPs operation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Langevin approach to the generation–recombination noise of a multi quantum well infrared photodetector

Carbone

Introzzi

Liu

2005

Infrared Physics & Technology

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Nonlinear response of quantum well infrared photodetectors under low-background and low-temperature conditions

Cited by 14 publications

References 11 publications

Thermal hysteresis loop, dynamical breakdown, and emission-current spike in quantum-well photodetectors

Thermal hysteresis loop, dynamical breakdown, and emission-current spike in quantum-well photodetectors

Physics of non-adiabatic transport and field-domain effect in quantum-well infrared photodetectors

Langevin approach to the generation–recombination noise of a multi quantum well infrared photodetector

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