Eur. Phys. J. Spec. Top. (2022) 231: 659-664
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjs/s11734-022-00461-5

Regular Article

A physical model of multi-quantum well material applied in the mid-infrared detector

School of Mechanical Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, China

^b suyan@njust.edu.cn

Received: 31 July 2021
Accepted: 19 January 2022
Published online: 5 March 2022

Abstract

The biggest challenge in 8–12 micron infrared detection is low photon energy and unavoidable thermal noise. Thermo-sensitive photoelectric detection attracts much attention operating at room temperature. This material’s temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) has become the most critical parameter for the devices. Traditional vanadium oxide and amorphous silicon materials have flaws. However, silicon-based quantum well materials show much promise as a replacement. The research focuses on the quantum well material’s physical model to determine the link between structural factors and TCR. According to the results, the energy level difference can be used as a goal analytical parameter to evaluate the TCR of thin film materials. The energy bands and carrier concentration distributions in equilibrium and non-equilibrium states were discovered via analysis and simulations. The quantum well materials were epitaxial growth, and the pixels used for electric performance tests were fabricated. As the experiments, the TCR of the material around the room temperature is about %/K.