This thesis presents experimental studies of InAs/InGaAs/GaAs quantum dot-in-awell infrared photodetectors (DWELL QDIPs) grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). Detailed studies were carried out to investigate the effects of design parameters on the performance of DWELL photodetectors, along with fundamental studies to determine the intraband optical and electronic properties of such structures. Using the results of these studies, an optimised structure was designed. In addition, the observation of a strong bias dependent spectral photoresponse demonstrated the capability of post growth spectral tunability within the long wavelength IR (LWIR) atmospheric window. Various approaches were investigated for enhancing the performance of quantum dot (QD) based devices. The main shortcoming of QDIPs versus quantum well infrared photodetectors (QWIPs) has been addressed i.e. the low dot density, which prohibits the high doping of these structures. The use of an antimonide surfactant to enhance the dot density in DWELL QDIPs is presented here for the first time. Also a method for decreasing the dark current in QDIPs was investigated, via the use of wide band gap AIGaAs barriers. Another technique using GaP strain balancing layers to reduce the strain in multilayer structures and allow the growth of >20 layer QD devices was illustrated. The effects of intermixing via thermal annealing are also reported in for DWELL QDIPs. As part of this study, the possibility of using such a technique to shift the spectral photoresponse across the 8-12J.lm LWIR window is demonstrated, and it is shown that the performance still remains in a competitive range within the LWIR range. Non-linear two photon absorption in QDIPs was demonstrated and studied. As a result of this study, the capability of QDIPs to operate as quadratic detectors in the far-infrared was established, which could prove very significant, since detector availability is reduced in that range. Finally, a novel approach to photovoltaic QDIPs was investigated experimentally, using a purpose built design in order to provide an internal electric field, which preferentially drives carriers in one direction.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:490196 |
| Date | January 2007 |
| Creators | Aivaliotis, Pantelis |
| Publisher | University of Sheffield |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/10319/ |
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