THz quantum well photodetector based on LO-phonon scattering-assisted extraction

We present a design for a quantum photodetector operating in the terahertz range, at 3.45 THz (15 meV, 87 μm). Our device relies on biased GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure, designed to exploit LO phonon scattering as an extraction mechanism. In our design, the external potential due to the applied bias f...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied physics letters 2024-02, Vol.124 (6)
Main Authors: Pérez-Urquizo, J., Gacemi, D., Zhang, Z. Z., Liu, B. B., But, D. B., Yavorskiy, D., Łusakowski, J., Knap, W., Li, H., Todorov, Y.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antenna arrays
Blackbody
Heterostructures
Microcavities
Operating temperature
Patch antennas
Phonons
Photoelectric effect
Photometers
Quantum cascade lasers
Quantum wells
Scattering
Terahertz frequencies
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Summary:We present a design for a quantum photodetector operating in the terahertz range, at 3.45 THz (15 meV, 87 μm). Our device relies on biased GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure, designed to exploit LO phonon scattering as an extraction mechanism. In our design, the external potential due to the applied bias forms an extraction miniband and allows accommodating an LO phonon transition (36 meV) and use it as an extraction mechanism, even though its energy exceeds the detector's absorbing transition at 15 meV. Spectral-resolved measurements performed on arrays of patch antenna microcavities reveal a peak photocurrent at the designed photon energy with a responsivity of 80 mA/W at 20 K. The maximum operating temperature of the photodetector is found to be 40 K. Detector characterizations were performed both with a black-body source as well as with a terahertz quantum cascade laser emitting at 3.5 THz.
ISSN:0003-6951
1077-3118
DOI:10.1063/5.0178516