Detection of light

Photodetectors
 Lecture Outline
• Introduction to Photodetectors
• Photodiodes
– General
– p-i-n and p-n
– Avalanche
• Quantum Well Infrared Photodetector
• Quantum Dot Infrared Photodetector
 Introduction
• Photodetectors are semiconductor devices
that can detect optical signals through
electronic processes
– Three main processes:
• Carrier generation by incident light
• Carrier transport and/or multiplication by current-gain mechanism
• Extraction of carriers as terminal current (or voltage) to provide the
output signal

– Desired: High sensitivity, high response speed, minimum noise,

compact size, low biasing voltage and current
 Introduction
• Wavelength relation to transition energy
hc 1.24 Often minimum
 wavelength for
E E( eV)
detection
• ∆E is the transition of energy levels
– Depending on photodetector type can be:
• Energy gap of the semiconductor
• Barrier height as in a metal semiconductor photodiode
• Transition energy between impurity level and band edge as an extrinsic
photoconductor
• Intersubband transition, etc.
 Introduction
• Important Factors/Parameters
– Absorption Coefficient
– Response Speed
– Quantum Efficiency
– Responsivity
– Gain
– Noise
– Detectivity
 Introduction
• Absorption
coefficient
– Determines whether
light can be
absorbed for
photoexcitation
– Determines where
light is absorbed
• High value means near
surface
• Low value means deeper
penetration
 Photodiodes: General
• Photodiodes have depleted region with a high electric field that separates
photogenerated electron-hole pairs
– Tradeoff between speed of response and quantum efficiency
(depletion layer: transit time, absorbance area)
– Reverse biasing often employed to reduce carrier transit time
and lower diode capacitance
– All photodiodes except Avalanche have a maximum gain of
one
a) pn photodiode
b) p-i-n photodiodes
c) Metal-i-n photodiode
d) Metal-semiconductor photodiode
e) Point contact photodiode
 Photodiodes: General
Important characteristics WD ~ 1/α
– Quantum efficiency
• Absorption coefficient strong dependence on
wavelength
• Long wavelength cutoff given by energy gap of
semiconductor
• Short wavelength cutoff given by large value of α
(surface where recombination is likely)
– Response Speed
• Limited by
– Drift time in the depletion region
– Diffusion of carriers
– Capacitance of detection region
• Optimized when the depletion layer is chosen so the
transit time is on the order of one half the modulation
period
• Depletion layer thickness (intrinsic layer) can be tailored to
optimize the quantum efficiency and frequency response
• Total current density is the sum of Idr inside the depletion
region and Idiff outside the depletion region
 Introduction
• Responsivity: Photocurrent generated per incident optical
power
I ph q  m A
R
P opt hv 1.24 W

• Gain and response time for common

photodetectors
 Introduction
• Noise ultimately determines minimum
detectable signal strength
– Sources of noise
• Dark current
• Thermal noise
• Shot noise
• Flicker noise
• Generation recombination noise

– Figure of Merit: Noise Equivalent Power (NEP)

NEP = incident rms optical power required to produce a
signal-to-noise ratio of one in a 1 Hz bandwidth
(minimum detectable light power)
 Introduction
A is the Area
• Detectivity AB
B is the Bandwidth
*
D
NEP
– The signal-to-noise ratio when one watt of light power
is incident on a detector of area 1 cm2 measured over
1 Hz bandwidth
– Normalized to area, noise is generally proportional to
the square root of area
– Detectivity depends on
• Detector sensitivity
• Spectral Response
• Noise
– Is a function of wavelength, modulation frequency and
bandwidth
 Photodiodes: p-n
• p-n photodiode
– Thin depletion layer means
some light can be absorbed
outside
– Light more than a diffusion
length outside does not
contribute at all to photocurrent
• Reduces quantum efficiency
• Diffusion process is slow
– Time required to 2diffuse a
distance x t 4 x
2
 D p

• Lower response speed than

p-i-n
• Neutral region contributes to
noise
 pin Photodetector

The high electric field present in the depletion region causes photo-generated carriers to
separate and be collected across the reverse –biased junction. This gives rise to the
photocurrent.
Energy-Band diagram for a pin photodiode
Responsivity vs. wavelength
 Photodiodes: p-i-n and p-n
• Frequency Response
– Phase difference between photon flux and
photocurrent will appear when incident light
intensity is modulated rapidly
– Assume light is absorbed at surface, applied
voltage is high enough to ensure saturation
velocity
– Response time is limited by the carrier transit
time through the depletion layer
– Compromise for high frequency response
and quantum efficiency
– Absorption region of thickness 1/α to 2/α
• Illustrates trade off between
– Large portion of light is absorbed within the response speed and quantum
depletion region efficiency at various
wavelengths by adjusting the
depletion width
• Smaller WD, shorter transit time,
higher speed, but reduced η
 Photodiodes: Heterojunction
• Advantages
– Large bandgap material can
be transparent and used as a
window for transmission of
incoming optical power
• Quantum efficiency is not
dependent on distance of
junction from surface
– Unique material combinations so
quantum efficiency and response
speed can be optimized for a given
optical wavelength
– Reduced dark current

J.H. Jang et al., Journal of Lightwave

Technology, Vol. 20, No. 3, March 2002.
 Structures for InGaAs APDs
• Separate-absorption-and multiplication (SAM) APD

light

InP substrate
InP buffer layer
INGaAs Absorption layer

InP multiplication layer

Metal contact

• InGaAs APD superlattice structure (The multiplication region is composed

of several layers of InAlGaAs quantum wells separated by InAlAs barrier
layers.
Comparison of photodetectors
Infrared detectors
 Electromagnetic Spectrum

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/langley/science

Visible Near-IR Mid-IR Far-IR Micro Wave

0.8 – 5 m 5 - 30 m 30 - 300 m

Wavelength
54
 Applications

http://www.netcast.com.hk/Products.htm

Infrared Body
Remote controller and receiver Temperature
Thermometer

Visible Light Infrared

56
 Applications
brain imaging Blood Flow

www.medphys.ucl.ac.uk/research/borl/

Transverse, coronal, and sagittal views

across the 3D absorption image of the infant,
acquired at 780 nm.

Human suspect climbing

over a fence at 2:49 AM in
total darkness
Night vision
helmet Infrared image of Orion
57
 Applications

Thermal analysis of a
fluid tank level detection Close up image of a Intel Celeron chip

www.x20.org ºF

www.x20.org
Faulty connection at power station
Bad Insulation spots
58
 Different Types of Infrared Detectors

IR Detectors

Photon Thermal

Photo- Bolometric Thermoelectric

Photovoltaic
conductive

Photoemissive Pyroelectric

59
Quantum Well Infrared
Photodetector (QWIP)
 Infrared Photodetection QWIP
Bulk Crystal

Wavelength

Photons

+ -
CB
61
VB
 Quantum Well Infrared Photodetectors

• Structure of QWIP
using GaAs/AlGaAs
heterostructure
– QW layers 5nm doped
to n-type in 1017 range
– Barrier layers are
undoped and have a
thickness 30-50nm
– Periods 20 to 50
 Quantum Well Infrared Photodetectors
• Incident light normal to
surface has zero Figure 716
absorption
– Intersubband transition
require electric field
have components
normal to QW plane
– Two methods
• Polished facet
• Grating to refract light
 Quantum Well Infrared Photodetectors
• Intersubband excitation
– Three types of transitions
• Bound to bound (escape well by tunneling)
• Bound to continuum (escape well because first state is above
barrier: easier)
• Bound to miniband in superlattice
 Quantum Well Infrared Photodetectors
• I-V of QWIP is similar to photodetectors
I ph q   ph   G a Ga is optical gain

• Quantum efficiency is different since light absorption and carrier

generation occur only in quantum wells
  
 ( 1  R)  1  exp  N op    N w L w E p  P
– Nop number of optical passes, Nw number of quantum wells,
Lw is the length, P is the polarization correction factor
– Ep is the escape probability and is a function of bias
1 Cp is the capture probability tp tt
Ga of electron traversing quantum well Cp
N w C p  N w 

tp transit time across single period of structure

tt transit time across entire QWIP active length L
 Quantum Well Infrared Photodetectors
• Dark current is due to thermionic emission over the
quantum well barriers and thermionic field emission
(thermally assisted tunneling) near the barrier peaks
– To limit dark current, the QWIP has to be operated at low
temperatures in the range of 4-77 K

• Can be applied in focal plane arrays for 2D imaging

– High speed capability and fast response
– Coupling of light to the photodetector is difficult
 QWIP Drawbacks
• High Intensity / Low Temp

• Polarization requirement: scattering grating

Grating
Quantum Dot Infrared
Photodetector (QDIP)
Quantum Dots
Boron doped Ge
quantum dots growth
sample
Producing using
molecular-beam epitaxy
(MBE) method in a thin
layer of semi-conductor
materials.
Quantum Dots

Self-Assembly (a.k.a Stranski-

Krastanow Method): Mismatched
lattice constants cause surface tension
which results in Qdot formation with
surprisingly uniform characteristics.
GaAs  5.6533 Å InAs  6.0584 Å

http://cqd.eecs.northwestern.edu/research/qdots.php
The different between quantum well &
quantum dot
Theoretical advantages of QDIPs
• 3D Confinement: Sharper wavelength discrimination
• QDIP allow direct incident normal to wafer surfaces.
• Avoid fabricating grate coupler as in QWIP.
• “Photon Bottleneck” : e- stays excited for a longer
time (i.e. less recombination), resulting in a more
efficient detector and resistance to temperature.
• Higher temperatures and lower intensity
• It has lower dark current & high detection sensitivity
than QWIP.

72
 Possible Applications
High speed infrared detection
Infrared image application—possible use in
security systems to produce image of various
objects.
Possible use in IR Spectrophotometer
Possible use in Cell Sorter
Could be used in Infrared Camera
 QDIP summary
There are still many challenges to overcome such
fabrication or manufacturing process that will
produce quantum dot to meet design requirement
Current manufacturing process limit to size and dot
density that it is impractical for commercial used
Due to complex fabrication process and limited size it
is expensive to manufacture
Needs better doping control
 Summary
• Photodiodes have depleted region with a high electric field that
separates photo-generated electron-hole pairs
• Width of depletion layer determines tradeoff between speed and
quantum efficiency
• P-n photodiodes have lower response speed and higher noise than a
p-i-n photodiode
• Heterojunction photodiodes can move light absorption region away
from the surface due to transparence of larger bandgap materials
• Avalanche photodiodes have high gain but at the cost of noise, better
for signals of low light intensity
• QWIPs and QDIPs use various intersubband transitions for electrons,
and are often operated at low temperatures