Two-Color Photodetector Using an Asymmetric Quantum Well Structure

The past twenty years have seen an explosion in the realm of infrared detection technology fueled by improvements in III-V semiconductor technology and by new semiconductor growth methods. One of the fastest growing areas of this research involves the use of bandgap engineering in order to create artificial quantum wells for use in Quantum Well Infrared Photodetectors (QWIPs) . QWIPs have an advantage over other infrared detectors such as Mercury Cadmium Telluride (MCT) because they have larger bandgaps and are therefore stronger and cheaper to manufacture. This thesis introduces one method of multi-color' detection through the use of an asymmetries quantum well structure in which all energy transitions are possible. The QWIP structure in this thesis was designed to detect a laser wavelength of 1.06 micrometers and a wavelength in the 8-10 micrometers atmosphere window. The relevance of a detector that is tuned to these wavelengths is that it can be used on military aircraft as a laser spot tracker and an infrared imager providing much greater accuracy and dependability than older systems.Naval Postgraduate School Monterey CA is the author of 'Two-Color Photodetector Using an Asymmetric Quantum Well Structure', published 2002 under ISBN 9781423508786 and ISBN 1423508785.