Sensitivity assessment of 4.8 <i>μ</i>m cutoff GaInAsSbBi <i>nBn</i> photodetectors for mid-wave infrared sensing applications
GaInAsSbBi nBn photodetectors are grown lattice-matched on GaSb by molecular beam epitaxy. Device structures exhibit smooth surface morphologies, minority carrier lifetimes on the order of 0.5 μs at 130 K, and demonstrate a 4.8 μm wavelength cutoff, a 0.3 μm cutoff extension to a Bi-free GaInAsSb nBn counterpart. Dark current and quantum efficiency measurements of the nBn provide a 3–5 μm in-band shot-noise-limited noise-equivalent irradiance that is ∼12× the Rule 07 reference in which unity quantum efficiency is assumed. The analysis of the device behavior indicates that detector performance is limited by the valence band alignment at the barrier/active region interface, which imparts a barrier to photocollection at lower operating biases and leads to a significant reduction in the quantum efficiency with decreasing temperature. While more investigation is required to optimize the valence band alignment, the results in these detectors indicate that performance comparable to Rule 07 is within reach.
Authors
- Joshua M. Duran (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9384-0516)
- Samuel D. Hawkins (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4705-1628)
- A. T. Newell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9819-1268)
- Christian P. Morath (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5838-9301)
- Victor J. Patel
- C.P. Hains (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2955-9177)
- Gamini Ariyawansa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8933-6920)
- Aaron J. Muhowski (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5659-6136)
- Zinah M. Alsaad (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-7125-1889)
- Julie V. Logan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9787-5249)
- Rigo A. Carrasco (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5908-3803)
- Preston T. Webster (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7434-1735)
- Diana Maestas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3291-8655)
Institutions
- United States Air Force Research Laboratory (US)
- University of New Mexico (US)
- Sandia National Laboratories (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of Applied Physics
- Published
- 2025-09-24
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0285782
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Advanced Semiconductor Detectors and Materials
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.46
Funders
- U.S. Department of Defense
- U.S. Department of Energy
- Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies
- Office of Science
- Air Force Materiel Command
- Sandia National Laboratories
- Air Force Research Laboratory