In this letter we introduce a quantum well infrared photodetector ~QWIP! structure, which we refer to as the quantum grid infrared photodetector ~QGIP!. In an ideal structure, a grid pattern with very narrow linewidth is created in the QWIP active region to achieve lateral electron confinement, thereby improving its absorption as well as transport characteristics. In order to realize this detec...

A 9 ~m cutoff 640x486 snap-shot quantum well infrared photodetector (QWIP) camera has been demonstrated. The performance of this QWIP camera is reported including indoor and outdoor imaging. Excellent imagery, with a noise equivalent differential temperature (NEAT) of 36 mK has been achieved at 300 K background.

In this paper a resonant tunnelling quantum well infrared photodetector (RT-QWIP) is discussed. Each period of this photodetector structure comprises of a resonant tunnelling structure (AlAs/AlGaAs/AlAs) nearby a quantum well (AlGaAs/GaAs). In this photodetector, photocurrent is produced when an electron makes a transition from the ground state of the well to an excited state which is coupled t...

A. A. Shanenko,1,2 M. D. Croitoru,3 and F. M. Peeters1 1TGM, Departement Fysica, Universiteit Antwerpen, Groenenborgerlaan 171, B-2020 Antwerpen, Belgium 2Bogoliubov Laboratory of Theoretical Physics, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, 141980 Dubna, Russia 3EMAT, Departement Fysica, Universiteit Antwerpen, Groenenborgerlaan 171, B-2020 Antwerpen, Belgium Received 21 August 2006; published 16...

The band-to-band Auger recombination rate in bulk GaSb and in a GaSb quantum well is calculated. It turns out to be larger in the quantum well because the threshold of the Auger process is located at the band edge where the density of states is larger in the quantum well than in bulk. A simple picture is developed to illustrate the physics of the Auger processes in bulk and quantum-well direct-...