Monte-Carlo Modeling of Electron Kinetics in Room Temperature Quantum-Dot Photodetectors

Results of our many-particle Monte-Carlo modeling of kinetics and transport of electrons in InAs/GaAs quantum-dot infrared photodetectors are reviewed. We studied the dependence of the electron capture time on the electric field at different heights of the potential barriers around the dots. The capture time is almost independent on the electric field up to a critical field about 1 kV/cm, and than substantially decreases with the field increase. We found that the capture time has exponential dependence on the inverse of the average electron energy, which is in agreement with theory. Our results show that controllable kinetics in quantum-dot structures may provide a significant increase in the photoconductive gain, device detectivity, and responsivity.