Design and fabrication of resonator quantum-well infrared photodetector with 10.2 μm cutoff

Recently, we have developed a detector structure known as the resonator quantum-well infrared photodetector or R-QWIP. With this structure, we demonstrated quantum efficiency as high as 70% in single detectors and 30% to 40% in focal plane arrays (FPAs) with a 9-μm cutoff. We designed a broadband, 10-μm cutoff R-QWIP FPA using a more accurate refractive index. To achieve the theoretical prediction, the substrates of the detectors have to be removed completely to prevent the escape of unabsorbed light out of the detectors. The height of the diffractive elements (DE) and the thickness of the active resonator must also be uniformly produced within a 0.05-μm accuracy. To achieve these specifications, two optimized inductively coupled plasma (ICP) etching processes are developed. Using these etching techniques, a number of single detectors were fabricated to verify the analysis before FPA production. In general, test data support the theoretical predictions.