A performance assessment of type-II interband In0.5Ga0.5Sb QD photodetectors

Photodiodes were fabricated consisting of 10 layers of In0.5Ga0.5Sb QDs grown on InAs (0 0 1) substrates with metal-organic vapor-phase epitaxy (MOVPE). The photoresponse and dark current were measured in single pixel devices as a function of temperature in the range 20-230 K. The quantum efficiency shows an Arrhenius type behavior, which is attributed to hole trapping. This severely limits the detector performance at typical LWIR sensor operating temperatures (60-120 K). A device design with the matrix material InAs0.6Sb0.4 is proposed as a mean to improve the performance by reducing the barrier for hole transport. This can potentially allow type-II InGaSb QDs to be a competitive sensor material for LWIR detection.