Epitaxial p+pn+ vertical short diodes for microbolometers

In the LWIR band, pn diodes are an attractive solution for thermometers in microbolometers. In this paper, epitaxial short p + p n + diodes were studied at 303–343 K. A T C C ranging from 8 %.K − 1 to 3 %.K − 1 between 0.2 V and 0.8 V and a current noise dominated by ficker noise were measured. Finally, at 303 K and an integration time of 40 ms, a thermal resolution ranging from 5.10 − 2 K to 1 . 1 0 − 4 K was obtained for bias currents between 5 . 1 0 − 11 A and 2 . 1 0 − 2 A. • A study of epitaxial short p+pn+ diodes at 303–343 K as a solution for thermometers in microbolometers is presented. • Figures of merit such as the Temperature Coefficient of Current (TCC) and the Power Spectral Density (PSD) of the current noise are measured. • The Power Spectral Density (PSD) of the current noise is dominated by flicker noise and depends on the geometry of the diodes. • IV characteristics of the diodes are compared to TCAD simulations. • Thermal resolutions of the diodes are extracted and compared to previous works.