Contents
Contributors xi
Preface xv
Part One Fundamentals
1 The physics of mid-infrared semiconductor materials and heterostructures 3
Stephen J. Sweeney, Timothy D. Eales, and Igor P. Marko
1.1 Introduction 3
1.2 Fundamental physics of interband devices 6
1.3 Type I QW lasers 13
1.4 Type II QW lasers 25
1.5 Emerging novel III–V materials for mid-IR device applications 30
1.6 Physical properties of mid-IR QCLs 35
1.7 Summary 43
Acknowledgments 43
References 43
Part Two Light sources
2 Mid-infrared light-emitting diodes 59
A. Krier, E. Repiso, F. Al-Saymari, P.J. Carrington, A.R.J. Marshall,
L. Qi, S.E. Krier, K.J. Lulla, M. Steer, C. MacGregor, C.A. Broderick,
R. Arkani, E. O’Reilly, M. Sorel, S.I. Molina, and M. De La Mata
2.1 Introduction 59
2.2 Metamorphic structures on GaAs 60
2.3 Resonant cavity LEDs 78
2.4 Summary 85
Acknowledgments 85
References 85
3 Interband mid-infrared lasers 91
Laurent Cerutti, Aurore Vicet, and Eric Tournié
3.1 Introduction 91
3.2 GaSb-based materials for interband mid-infrared lasers 91
3.3 GaSb-based type I Fabry-Pérot LDs 93
3.4 GaSb-based type I single-frequency LDs 98
3.5 GaSb-based type II ICLs 112
3.6 Other materials systems 116
3.7 Conclusion: Perspectives 117
Acknowledgments 118
References 118
Further reading 129
4 Quantum cascade lasers 131
Yohei Matsuoka, Mykhaylo P. Semtsiv, and W. Ted Masselink
4.1 Quantum cascade laser fundamentals 131
4.2 QCL fabrication 138
4.3 Power scaling 160
4.4 External cavity quantum cascade laser 166
References 177
5 High-brightness quantum cascade lasers 181
Matthew Suttinger, Ron Kaspi, and Arkadiy Lyakh
5.1 Introduction 181
5.2 Brightness, power, and efficiency 182
5.3 Active region design 184
5.4 QCL waveguides and transverse modes 185
5.5 Master oscillator power amplifier 189
5.6 Engineered Sidewall Losses 191
5.7 Cladding losses 195
5.8 Geometrical power scaling and temperature effects 198
5.9 Geometrical mode control 200
5.10 Summary 202
References 203
6 Mid-infrared frequency conversion in quasiphase matched
semiconductors 207
Arnaud Grisard, Eric Lallier, and Bruno Gérard
6.1 Introduction 207
6.2 Designing mid-IR QPM semiconductors 208
6.3 Fabrication of OP templates 216
6.4 Epitaxial growth of bulk OP-crystals 219
6.5 Epitaxial growth of OP waveguides 221
6.6 Application perspectives 223
6.7 Conclusion 227
Acknowledgments 228
References 228
Further reading 232
Part Three Photodetectors
7 HgCdTe photodetectors 235
A. Rogalski
7.1 Introduction 235
7.2 Historical perspective 235
7.3 Impact of epitaxial growth on development of HgCdTe detectors 244
7.4 HgCdTe photodiodes 249
7.5 HgCdTe FPAs 283
7.6 HgCdTe future prospect 314
7.7 Conclusions 320
References 321
Further reading 335
8 Quantum cascade detectors: A review 337
Alexandre Delga
8.1 Introduction 337
8.2 QCD state of the art 339
8.3 Device physics 343
8.4 QWIPs vs QCDs 357
8.5 Optical coupling 359
8.6 A toolbox for physics 364
8.7 Conclusion 370
References 371
Further reading 377
9 InAs/GaSb type II superlattices: A developing material system
for third generation of IR imaging 379
Manijeh Razeghi
9.1 Introduction 379
9.2 High-performance InAs/GaSb T2SL-based photodetectors
covering whole IR spectrum 380
9.3 High-performance InAs/GaSb T2SL photodetectors
and FPAs on GaAs substrate 389
9.4 High-performance multicolor photodetectors and FPAs 392
9.5 Ga-free InAs/InAs1−xSbx/AlAs1−xSbx type II superlattice
photodetectors 396
References 409
Further reading 412
10 InAsSb-based photodetectors 415
Elizabeth H. Steenbergen
10.1 Introduction 415
10.2 History and growth methods 417
10.3 Material properties 424
10.4 Photodetectors 434
10.5 Summary and future outlook 442
References 445
Further reading 453
Part Four New approaches
11 Dilute bismide and nitride alloys for mid-IR optoelectronic devices 457
Shumin Wang, Robert Kudrawiec, Chaodan Chi, Liping Zhang,
Xiaolei Zhang, and Xin Ou
11.1 Dilute bismide 457
11.2 Dilute nitrides 471
Acknowledgment 485
References 485
12 Group IV photonics using (Si)GeSn technology toward mid-IR
applications 493
Wei Du and Shui-Qing Yu
12.1 SiGeSn/GeSn material growth techniques 497
12.2 GeSn/SiGeSn-based emitters 511
12.3 GeSn SWIR and MWIR photodetectors 520
12.4 Outlook 530
Acknowledgment 531
References 531
13 Intersubband transitions in GaN-based heterostructures 539
A. Ajay and E. Monroy
13.1 Introduction 539
13.2 Properties of III-nitride semiconductors 540
13.3 Intersubband absorption in polar GaN/AlGaN quantum wells 542
13.4 Quantum wells in alternative crystallographic orientations 546
13.5 Nanowire heterostructures 548
13.6 Intersubband devices based on III-nitrides 552
13.7 Conclusions 556
References 557
14 III–V/Si mid-IR photonic integrated circuits 567
Fabio Pavanello, Ruijun Wang, and Günther Roelkens
14.1 Platforms addressing the mid-IR 567
14.2 Alternative platforms for mid-IR and future challenges 573
14.3 Heterogeneous integration of III–V-on-Si PICs 574
References 589
Further reading 594
Part Five Application of mid-IR devices
15 Quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy for gas sensing
applications 597
Vincenzo Spagnolo, Pietro Patimisco, and Frank K. Tittel
15.1 Introduction 597
15.2 Fundamentals of QEPAS 600
15.3 QEPAS configurations 609
15.4 Custom QTFs for QEPAS 619
15.5 Novel QEPAS approaches exploiting custom QTFs 634
15.6 QEPAS trace gas detection results overview 640
15.7 Conclusions and future developments 651
References 652
16 Mid-infrared gas-sensing systems and applications 661
Armin Lambrecht and Katrin Schmitt
16.1 Application areas and markets for mid-infrared gas-sensing
systems 661
16.2 Fundamentals of absorption spectroscopy 664
16.3 Properties of gases with high sensing demand 665
16.4 MIR gas sensors and measurement systems using incoherent
radiation 667
16.5 Applications of MIR gas sensors and systems using
incoherent radiation 673
16.6 MIR laser-based systems 677
16.7 Applications of laser-based systems 685
16.8 Conclusion and outlook 702
References 704
Further reading 715
Index 717
Preface
The mid-infrared (mid-IR) wavelength range of the electromagnetic spectrum (2–12 μm) is a technologically important spectral region for sensing, imaging, and communications, and the past decade has witnessed a surge of development of mid-IR optoelectronics, from materials to applications, through device implementations. In particular, much progress has been made in mid-IR sources and photodetectors, while mid-IR spectroscopy has progressively matured. Future applications will require better performance and novel functionalities of devices, and a number of new device concepts have recently emerged and attract much attention. For these reasons, an upto- date summary of the field is highly desirable, which is the purpose of this book. The fundamentals of semiconductor physics are discussed in Part I through
Chapter 1 covering the various materials and heterostructures suited to mid-IR optoelectronics. Emphasis is put on the latest developments. The chapter is the cornerstone of Parts II and III.
Part II is devoted to mid-IR light sources. Chapter 2 summarizes the latest achievements in the field of light-emitting diodes, whereas Chapter 3 reviews the advancement in interband mid-IR lasers, addressing edge-emitting lasers, vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers, and interband cascade lasers spanning the 2–6 μm wavelength range. The general principles and properties of quantum cascade lasers, devices of increasing importance in terms of applications and reaching long wavelength, are described in Chapter 4, whereas Chapter 5 focuses on high-brightness quantum cascade lasers. Finally, nonlinear optics in semiconductors is reviewed in Chapter 6, which bridges Parts II and III.
Part III aims at reviewing mid-IR photodetectors. It starts with Chapter 7, which summarizes the performances of the most mature photodetector technology, namely devices based on mercury cadmium telluride. This technology has been lately challenged by quantum photodetectors. Quantum cascade detectors are described in Chapter 8. Antimonide-based devices relying on either InAs/GaSb type II superlattices or InAsSb layers and superlattices are reviewed in Chapters 9 and 10, respectively.
Part IV reviews new approaches toward mid-IR optoelectronics. It starts with Chapter 11 summarizing recent developments in dilute bismide and nitride alloys, whereas Chapter 12 presents the latest results obtained with GeSn group IV materials. Intersubband transitions in wide-bandgap nitride semiconductors is another approach, reviewed in Chapter 13. Finally, mid-IR silicon photonics that may revolutionize the sensing industry is presented in Chapter 14 and makes a transition toward Part V.
Part V addresses gas sensing, currently the main application of mid-IR optoelectronics. Quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy, a newly developed technique, is described in Chapter 15. Chapter 16 presents a thorough review of sensor technologies and possible application scenarios, including an overview of growing markets. Reviewing all aspects of mid-IR optoelectronics is not an easy task, but we attempted to include in this book contributions that cover the most important and recent developments. We hope that the reader will find useful information in this book. We sincerely thank all the authors of the book for their valuable contribution to this project.
Last but not least, we could not conclude this preface without acknowledging the memory of Pr. Dr. Markus C. Amann, former Professor for Semiconductor Technology at Technical University Munich, Germany, and Director of the Walter Schottky Institut, who unexpectedly passed away during the preparation of this project. His contribution to semiconductor lasers, covering the whole wavelength range from near-IR to the terahertz, has been inspiring to many of us.