Research Team Realizes 3-Color Photodetector
April 25, 2016 | Northwestern UniversityEstimated reading time: 1 minute
While infrared waves are available in short, mid, and long lengths, most detection devices are unable to harness all three at the same time.
Now Northwestern University's Manijeh Razeghi and her team have developed a new approach in device design to realize a three-color, shortwave-midwave-longwave infrared photodetector. With the new design, the devices can detect different infrared wavebands by simply varying the applied bias voltage. This could open up a range of potential applications, including infrared color televisions and three-color infrared imaging.
"A device capable of detecting different infrared wavebands is highly desirable in the next generation infrared imaging systems," said Razeghi, Walter P. Murphy Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in Northwestern's McCormick School of Engineering.
Supported by DARPA, the Army Research Laboratory, Air Force Research Laboratory, and NASA, the team's finding were published on April 7 in Nature Scientific Reports.
Led by Razeghi, the researchers invented and investigated the new design for three-color photodiodes without using additional terminal contacts. The resulting photodetector is based on indium-arsenide/gallium-antimonide/aluminum-antimonide type-II superlattices.
As the applied bias voltage varies, the photodetector sequentially exhibits the behavior of three different colors, corresponding to the bandgap of three absorbers, and achieves well-defined cut-off wavelengths and high-quantum efficiency in each channel.
This new research builds on the Razeghi group's many years of work in Northwestern's Center for Quantum Devices, including the development of the first single-color, short-wavelength infrared photodetector and two-color, shortwave-midwave infrared photodetector based on type-II superlattices.
"I am fascinated by these results," Razeghi said. "The initial success in this demonstration will drive us to the new frontier of infrared detection and imaging technology."
Suggested Items
I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week
05/03/2024 | Nolan Johnson, I-Connect007This week’s most important news is strategic—and telling. When one puts together the IPC industry reports, we simply have to include the recent conversation with Shawn DuBravac and Tom Kastner. On the design side, check out the latest “On The Line With…” podcast featuring Brad Griffin from Cadence Design Systems, discussing SI and PI in the realm of intelligent system design.
Synopsys, Samsung Electronics Collaborate to Achieve First Production Tapeout of Flagship Mobile CPU
05/03/2024 | PRNewswireSynopsys, Inc. announced that Samsung Electronics has achieved successful production tapeout for its high-performance mobile SoC design, including flagship CPUs and GPUs, with 300MHz higher performance using Synopsys.ai™ full stack AI-driven EDA suite and a broad portfolio of Synopsys IP on Samsung Foundry's latest Gate-All-Around (GAA) process technologies.
Altair Acquires Research in Flight, Forging a New Path for Aerodynamic Analysis
05/03/2024 | AltairAltair a global leader in computational intelligence, announced it has acquired Research in Flight, maker of FlightStream®, which provides computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software with a large footprint in the aerospace and defense sector and a growing presence in marine, energy, turbomachinery, and automotive applications.
Real Time with… IPC APEX EXPO 2024: Software Solutions for Circuit Board Challenges
05/03/2024 | Real Time with...IPC APEX EXPONolan Johnson speaks with Will Webb from Aster Technologies about their software solutions for design teams, manufacturing, test engineers, and process engineers. Aster's software addresses the increasing complexities of circuit boards and the need for alternative testing methods.
Real Time with… IPC APEX EXPO 2024: My Role as a Technology Solutions Director
05/02/2024 | Real Time with...IPC APEX EXPOPeter Tranitz, senior director of technology solutions at IPC, shares insights into his role as the design initiative lead. He details his advocacy work, industry support, and the responsibilities of the design initiative committee. The conversation also covers the revamping of standards, the IPC Design Competition, and the implementation of design rules in software tools.