Design issues relating to low-temperature dark current in quantum well infrared photodetectors

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Abstract
Quantum well infrared photodetectors (QWIPs) have emerged as a viable contender for many remote sensing applications, even in the space environment where low background fluxes are involved. There are, however, several issues that still need to be resolved in order to achieve optimum performance at low operating temperatures. One important issue is the dark current, which is dominated by Fowler-Nordheim and trap-assisted tunneling in this regime. In order to decrease the dark current of QWIPs at low temperatures, we are investigating these mechanisms to better understand them. Our preliminary investigations have uncovered another possible problem; offsets in the I-V characteristics which could impair the compatibility of a QWIP array with a readout circuit. In this paper we discuss these design issues.

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