Flexibility of Ga-containing Type-II superlattice for long-wavelength infrared detection

TL;DR

This study explores the growth, electronic properties, and device performance of Ga-containing Type-II superlattices for long-wavelength infrared detection, demonstrating potential for improved device designs.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis from material growth to device performance, highlighting the potential of strain-compensated Ga-containing superlattices for IR detectors.

Findings

Strain-compensated superlattices exhibit energy gaps of 105-169 meV at 77K.

Material parameters are extracted and compared for different superlattice structures.

Device performance varies with superlattice period, indicating design optimization potential.

Abstract

In this paper, the flexibility of long-wavelength Type-II InAs/GaSb superlattice (Ga-containing SL) is explored and investigated from the growth to the device performance. First, several samples with different SL period composition and thickness are grown by molecular beam epitaxy. Nearly strain-compensated SLs on GaSb exhibiting an energy band gap between 105 to 169 meV at 77K are obtained. Second, from electronic band structure calculation, material parameters are extracted and compared for the different grown SLs. Finally, two p-i-n device structures with different SL periods are grown and their electrical performance compared. Our investigation shows that an alternative SL design could potentially be used to improve the device performance of diffusion-limited devices for long-wavelength infrared detection.