Heterojunction blocking contacts in MOCVD grown Hg1-xCdxTe long wavelength infrared photoconductors

The theoretical and experimental performance of Hg_1-xCd _xTe long wavelength infrared (LWIR) photoconductors fabricated on two-layer heterostructures grown by in situ MOCVD has been studied. It is shown that heterojunction blocking contact (HBC) photoconductors, consisting of wider bandgap Hg_1-xCd_x Te on an LWIR absorbing layer, give improved responsivity, particularly at higher applied bias, when compared with two-layer photoconductors incorporating n⁺/n contacts. An extension to existing device models is presented, which takes into account the recombination rate at the heterointerface and separates it from that occurring at both the contact-metal/semiconductor and passivant/semiconductor interfaces. The model requires a numerical solution to the continuity equation, and allows the device responsivity to be calculated as a function of applied electric field. Model predictions indicate that a change in bandgap across the heterointerface corresponding to a compositional change of Δx⩾0.04 essentially eliminates the onset of responsivity saturation due to minority carrier sweepout at high applied bias. Experimental results are presented for frontside-illuminated n-type Hg_1-xCd_xTe photoconductive detectors with either n⁺/n contacts or heterojunction blocking contacts. The devices are fabricated on a two-layer in situ grown MOCVD Hg_1-xCd_xTe wafer with a capping layer of x=0.31 and an LWIR absorbing layer of x=0.22. The experimental data clearly demonstrates the difficulty of forming n ⁺/n blocking contacts on LWIR material, and indicates that heterojunctions are the only viable technology for forming effective blocking contacts to narrow bandgap semiconductors     

俄歇复合对同质结InGaAs探测器探测率的影响

通过对InGaAs材料的俄歇(Auger)复合机制的理论分析,给出了少子寿命与材料组分、温度和载流子浓度的关系,从而得到材料参数等对InGaAs探测器的探测率影响的结果,优化材料参数和器件结构可抑制Auger复合机制,提高InGaAs探测器的探测率.     

温度和材料参数对InAsxSb1-x俄歇复合寿命影响的数值分析

工作在中长波的红外探测器可被广泛应用在空间成像、军事和通信等领域,锑基InAsSb材料由于其特殊的性质是制作长波非致冷光子探测器的理想材料。俄歇复合寿命是影响探测器性能的重要因素之一,文章采用Matlab软件模拟研究了n型和p型InAsxSb1-x材料的俄歇复合寿命随温度、As组分及载流子浓度的变化。对确定的As组分,可通过优化工作温度及载流子浓度获得较长的俄歇复合寿命。当载流子浓度为3.2×1015 cm-3、温度为200K时,n型InAs0.35Sb0.65的俄歇复合寿命最大为2.91×10-9 s。     

光导器件及其背景限探测度

本文就ＭＣＴ光导型探测器作一总结性的讨论，对光导器件的扫出问题作了更详尽的阐述，并定义了扫出因子。关于背景限探测度提出了新的见解，认为背景限探测度不是不可逾越。     

Measurement of radiative and nonradiative recombination rate inInGaAsP-InP LED's

The curves of the minority carrier lifetime versus current are measured in InGaAsP-InP double heterostructure LEDs. To analyze the measured data the carrier recombination rate versus the minority carrier concentration n are calculated. Radiative and Auger recombination processes are considered to explain the measured data on heterointerfaces and/or on recombination centers. The radiative recombination rate R_rad versus n curves are confirmed to be parabolic. A simple analytical formula for the radiative recombination rate coefficient B(n) is derived     

Noise Analysis of Photoconductive Terahertz Detectors

The noise performance of photoconductive terahertz detectors is analyzed and the tradeoff between low-noise and high-responsivity operation of photoconductive detectors is investigated as a function of device parameters and operational settings. The analysis is conducted on two general photoconductive detector architectures, symmetrically pumped and asymmetrically pumped photoconductive detector architectures. The results indicate that the highest signal-to-noise ratios are offered by the symmetrically pumped and asymmetrically pumped detector architectures for the photoconductive detectors based on short-carrier lifetime and long-carrier lifetime semiconductors, respectively.     

Modeling and Design Considerations of HgCdTe Infrared Photodiodes under Nonequilibrium Operation

The general approach and effects of nonequilibrium operation of Auger suppressed HgCdTe infrared detectors are well understood. However, the complex relationships of carrier generation and dependencies on nonuniform carrier profiles in the device prevent the development of simplistic analytical device models with acceptable accuracy. In this work, finite element methods are used to accurately model the devices, including self-consistent, steady-state solutions of Poisson’s equation and the carrier continuity equations for carrier densities, Boltzmann transport theory, and published models for recombination/generation processes in HgCdTe. Numerical simulations are used to optimize the material structure and doping levels for an Auger suppressed detector with λ _{c =} 5.5 μm at 200 K. The optimized detector structure with step doping and compositional profiles is then compared to a device with realistic gradient doping and compositional profiles.     

Analytical Simulation of an InAsSb Photovoltaic Detector for Mid-Infrared Applications

A generic model of a mid-infrared photodetector based on a narrow bandgap semiconductor has been developed. The model has been applied for analysis and simulation of an InAs_0.89Sb_0.11 photovoltaic detector for operation at room temperature in 2–5 μm wavelength region. The model takes into account the effect of tunneling and other components of dark current on the detectivity of the device by considering all the three dominant recombination mechanisms e.g., radiative, Shockley-Read-Hall and Auger recombination. The study revealed that the dark current of the photodetector under reverse bias is dominated by trap-assisted tunneling component of current and this causes the detectivity of the device to decrease at high reverse bias. It is further concluded that by operating the device at a suitable low reverse bias it is possible to improve the room-temperature detectivity significantly as compared to its value at zero bias.     

Measurement of radiative and nonradiative recombination rates in InGaAsP and AlGaAs light sources

A small signal method is used to measure the carrier lifetime as a function of injected carrier density, and the results are used to determine the radiative and nonradiative recombination rates for AlGaAs LED's and 1.3 μm InGaAsP lasers. For AlGaAs LED's the radiative recombination constant decreases with injected carrier density and the rate equation contains a small nonradiative Cn³term. The low internal efficiency of 1.3 μm InGaAsP lasers is found to be primarily caused by two factors: a radiative coefficientB(n)which strongly decreases with the injected carrier density, and CHHS Auger recombination having a recombination coefficient of1-2 times 10^{-29}cm⁶/s. A recombination term representing carrier leakage is observed in some devices, but it is not the principal cause of low internal efficiency.     

Minority carrier lifetime and noise in abrupt molecular-beam epitaxy-grown HgCdTe heterostructures

The steady-state lifetime of photogenerated minority carriers has been investigated in heterostructure HgCdTe devices fabricated on molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE) grown material. A wider bandgap capping layer (Hg_(1−x)Cd_(x)Te, x = 0.44) was grown on a narrower bandgap absorbing layer (Hg_(1−x)Cd_(x)Te, x = 0.32, λ_co,80K = 4.57 μm) material in an uninterrupted MBE growth to create an abrupt heterointerface. Steady-state lifetime as a function of temperature over the range 80–300 K was extracted from photoconductive responsivity at an optical wavelength corresponding to the peak responsivity at that temperature. At 80 K, the photoconductors exhibit a specific detectivity of 4.5 × 10¹¹ cm Hz^−1/2W⁻¹ (chopping frequency of 1 kHz). For each measurement temperature, the steady-state excess carrier lifetime determined experimentally was compared to the theoretical bulk lifetime for material with x = 0.32 and effective n-type doping density of 3.7 × 10¹⁴ cm⁻³. Theoretical calculations of the Auger-1 lifetime based on expressions developed by Pratt et al. were not able to account for the reduction in lifetime observed at temperatures above 180 K. Two approaches have been attempted to resolve this discrepancy: A semiempirical expression for Auger lifetime attributed to Meyer et al. was used to fit to the data, with the Auger coefficient γ as a fitting parameter. However, the resulting Auger coefficient found in this work is more than an order of magnitude higher than that reported previously. Alternatively, the reduction in effective lifetime above 180 K may be understood as a “loss” of carriers from the narrow bandgap absorbing layer that are promoted across the potential barrier in the conduction band into a low lifetime, wider bandgap capping layer. The reduction in lifetime as a function of inverse temperature for temperatures above 180 K may be fitted by a “cap lifetime” that has an activation energy equal to the change in bandgap across the heterostucture and scaled by a fitting constant.     

Modeling of Recombination in HgCdTe

Minority carrier recombination lifetime calculations for narrow-gap semiconductors are of direct practical interest in establishing whether a material’s recombination is extrinsically or intrinsically limited, and therefore in guiding research and development programs regarding material quality improvements. We describe efforts to obtain accurate electronic band structures of HgCdTe alloy-based materials with infrared energy gaps and employ them to evaluate Auger recombination lifetimes. We use a 14-band k · p formalism to compute and optimize electronic band structures, and use the obtained electronic energies and matrix elements directly in the numerical evaluation of Auger and radiative lifetimes.     

Uncooled InAs-GaSb type-II infrared detectors grown on GaAssubstrates for the 8-12-μm atmospheric window

We report on the growth and characterization of type-II infrared detectors with an InAs-GaSb superlattice active layer for the 8-12-μm atmospheric window at 300 K. The material was grown by molecular beam epitaxy on semi-insulating GaAs substrates. Photoconductive detectors fabricated from the superlattices showed 80% cutoff at about 12 μm at room temperature. The responsivity of the device is about 2 mA/W with a 1-V bias (E=5 V/cm) and the maximum measured detectivity of the device is 1.3×10⁸ cm.Hz^1/2/W at 11 μm at room temperature. The detector shows very weak temperature sensitivity. Also, the extracted effective carrier lifetime, τ=26 ns, is an order of magnitude longer than the carrier lifetime in HgCdTe with similar bandgap and carrier concentration     

Experimental comparison of localized and free carrier Auger recombination in silicon

The lifetimes of excitons bound to different shallow impurities in silicon have been measured. A comparison with a theoretical calculation shows that a 3-particle Auger process dominates the recombination. In the case of high carrier concentration the lifetime of free carriers is also governed by the Auger recombination. In contrast to the bound excitons this Auger process cannot be of first order but an additional excitation, probably a phonon, must be involved. It turns out, indeed, that the excitonic Auger recombination is more “effective” than the band-to-band transition, as expected for a lower order process. A comparison of the results for the highly doped material with those for highly excited pure samples (electron-hole drops, EHD) shows that also in this case the Auger recombination dominates.     

A note on trap recombination in high voltage device structures

The carrier lifetime is a very important parameter influencing all important characteristics of bipolar devices both discrete and integrated structures and carrier lifetime tailoring is an important part of power semiconductor device technology. In presented paper, recombination through traps (centres with a deep energy level between edge of bandgap and Fermi level) is discussed in more details. It has been shown that some traps can considerably influence recombination rate in silicon and that at some traps a considerable temperature dependence of the centre cross-sections may be found. This is demonstrated in the case of iridium traps with a deep energy level 0.28 eV below the conduction band which capture cross-section temperature dependence has been found σ_p+σ_n∝T^−6.5. Further, the problem on low injection carrier lifetime in low-doped layers of high voltage semiconductor devices is also discussed.     

Factors limiting current gain in power transistors

The combined effect of sidewall injection, bandgap narrowing, and Shockley-Hall-Read and Auger recombination in determining emitter efficiency in n-p-n power transistor structures is demonstrated by utilizing a two-dimensional transistor model. The relative importance of each of these effects is calculated as a function of emitter junction depth, emitter surface doping, and injection level. It is shown that in a practical transistor design the reduction in emitter efficiency due to the increased injection of holes into the emitter, resulting from bandgap narrowing caused by heavy doping, is not dominated by the emitter sidewall. Auger recombination is seen to be especially important when bandgap narrowing is present. Enhanced Auger-type recombination is due both to increased minority carrier injection in the emitter as well as current crowding effects. The predictions of the model are compared with results of the measurement of current gain versus current level characteristics on existing devices.     

The effect of Auger mechanism on n+-p GaInAsSb infraredphotovoltaic detectors

In this paper, the theoretical analysis of the Auger mechanism in n⁺-p GaInAsSb infrared photovoltaic detectors is reported. The lifetime caused by the Auger mechanism is calculated depending on the compositions, temperature, and carrier concentration. We also analyze the effect of material parameters on the detectivity of the n ⁺-p GaInAsSb detectors. The calculated results show that the Auger mechanism could be suppressed by optimizing the material parameters, so that the performance of GaInAsSb infrared photovoltaic detectors is improved     

Trap-related photoconductivity in ZnO epilayers

A strong photoconductive response is observed for ZnO epilayers in the presence of both above bandgap and below bandgap photoexcitation. Photoexcitation for energies larger than the bandgap results in a photoconductive response with fast and slow time constants on the order of nanoseconds and larger than milliseconds, respectively. The fast and slow time constants are attributed to minority carrier recombination and slow escape of holes from traps, respectively. Photoexcitation in the visible spectral region, below the bandgap energy, results in slow rise and fall time constants on the order of minutes and hours. A model for the photoconductive response based on rate equations is presented providing an accurate fit to measured photoconductivity data. The rate equation model suggests the presence of hole trap levels in the energy range of 0.6 eV to 1.0 eV relative to the valence bandedge. The passivation of the ZnO surface with SiO₂ shows significantly reduced photoconductive transient decay time constants, suggesting a significant reduction of deep surface defects on the ZnO material.     

叠层HgCdTe光导器件载流子浓度分布及器件性能

根据Ｍ．Ａ．Ｋｉｎｃｈ提出了的叠层结构，从解一维连续性方程出发，对有叠层和无叠层器件光生载流子浓度空间分布进行了计算和分析，结果表明，叠层结构相当提供一个少数载流子存储区，可有效抑制扫出效应，提高体内光生载流子的平均浓度，从而提高响应率，实验上采用两种工艺实现了有叠层结构，并给出了器件性能的测量结果。     

Minority carrier lifetime in p-HgCdTe

High operating temperature (HOT) detector concepts using midwave infrared (MWIR) (x∼0.3) p-type HgCdTe operating at temperatures within the thermoelectric cooler range are of significant interest at the present time. However, it is apparent that much work remains to be done in the areas of material, diode passivation, and diode formation technologies before the “holy grail” of photon detection at room temperature for all infrared wavelengths is achieved. Over the years, at DRS, we have developed a technology base for both n- and p-type HgCdTe materials parameters that are relevant to photodiode design and fabrication. This paper will discuss data that we have taken recently on minority carrier lifetime in MWIR and long wave infrared (LWIR) HgCdTe, particularly p type, and how it compares to current theories of Auger 7, radiative, and Shockley-Read recombination in this material. Extrinsic group IB (Cu, Au) and group V (arsenic) p-type dopants were used, together with group III (In) for n-type. The impact of the data on future HOT detector work is discussed.