Predicted Performance Improvement of Auger-Suppressed HgCdTe Photodiodes and [Formula Omitted] Heterojunction Detectors

Infrared detectors require cryogenic operation to suppress dark current, which is typically limited by Auger processes in narrow-band-gap semiconductor materials. Device structures designed to reduce carrier density under nonequilibrium reverse-bias operation provide a means to suppress Auger generation and to reduce dark current and subsequent cryogenic cooling requirements. This study closely examines mercury cadmium telluride (HgCdTe) device structures exhibiting Auger suppression, comparing the simulated device behavior and performance metrics to those obtained for conventional HgCdTe detector structures. Calculated detectivity values of high-operating-temperature and double-layer planar heterojunction devices demonstrate consistently higher background limited performance (BLIP) temperatures over a range of cutoff wavelengths. BLIP temperature improvements of and 43 K were extracted from simulations for midwavelength infrared and long wavelength infrared devices, respectively. These studies predict that Auger-suppressed detectors provide a significant advantage over conventional detectors with an increased operating temperature of approximately 40 K for equivalent performance for devices with cutoff wavelength in the range of 5-12 [Formula Omitted].