Premium
Review of current progress in quantum dot infrared photodetectors
Author(s) -
Barve A.V.,
Lee S.J.,
Noh S.K.,
Krishna S.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
laser and photonics reviews
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.778
H-Index - 116
eISSN - 1863-8899
pISSN - 1863-8880
DOI - 10.1002/lpor.200900031
Subject(s) - photodetector , quantum dot , infrared , focal plane arrays , quantum well infrared photodetector , physics , optoelectronics , cardinal point , optics , large format , engineering physics , quantum well , laser
Quantum dot infrared photodetectors (QDIPs) have made significant progress after their early demonstration about a decade ago. We review the progress made by QDIP technology over the last few years and compare QDIPs with quantum well infrared photodetectors (QWIPs). It is shown that the performance of QDIPs has significantly improved using novel architectures such as dots‐in‐a‐well designs, and large‐format (1 K × 1 K) focal plane arrays have been realized. However, even though there are significant reports of performance parameters better than QWIPs from single‐pixel devices, QDIP‐based focal plane arrays are still a factor of 3–5 worse in terms of noise equivalent temperature difference. We discuss the reasons for the performance gap and the key scientific and technological challenges that need to be addressed to achieve the full potential of QD‐based technology.