Temperature dependence of electron transport in GaN/AlGaN quantum cascade detectors

► We theoretically investigate the GaN/(AlN/AlGaN) quantum cascade photodetector. ► Modeling of electron transport and optical response of the cascade detector is based on the density matrix theory. ► Increasing temperature leads to growing of device operating speed. ► The response of investigated GaN/AlGaN quantum cascade photodetector amounts 50ps for 300°C. In this work we investigate the influence of extractor design and temperature on transport properties of quantum cascade detector. For this purpose we realize numerical calculation of electron lifetimes considering electron–phonon and electron impurities scattering. Electron–phonon interactions are treated using Fermi Golden Rule which allows to calculate lifetime of carriers with temperature and structure design taking into account. Transport characteristics of the quantum cascade detectors have been computed using density matrix theory. As a result, we have obtained the system of ordinary differential equations describing dynamics of electron distribution functions and intersubband correlations. Managing carrier lifetime in quantum wells gives us possibility to make device response faster. Also carrier lifetime is the relevant characteristic, allows us to calculate a lot of parameters such as quantum efficiency and photocurrent.