ZnCdSe/ZnCdMgSe quantum well infrared photodetector.

ABSTRACT

We report the design, fabrication and characterization of a II-VI Zn(0.51)Cd(0.49)Se / Zn0.45(Cd)0.42(Mg)(0.13)Se-based quantum well infrared photodetector (QWIP) with a bound to quasi-bound transition centered at 8.7 µm. The good growth quality of the epitaxial layers was verified by x-ray diffraction measurements. Absorption and photocurrent measurements yield results consistent with conventional III-V QWIPs. Photocurrent measurements reveal an exponential decrease with temperature. In addition, we also observe more than 4 orders of magnitude increase in photocurrent with applied bias. By compensating the drop in temperature performance with an increase in applied bias, we achieve an operating temperature of up to 140K and a responsivity of 1-10 µA/W.