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At least 37 records · Page 2

Application of atomic layer deposited microchannel plates to imaging photodetectors with high time resolution

Novel microchannel plates have been constructed using borosilicate glass micro-capillary array substrates with 20 mu m and 10 mu m pores and coated with resistive, and secondary electron emissive, layers by atomic layer deposition. Microchannel plates in 33 mm, 50 mm and 20 cm square formats have been made and tested. Although their amplification, imaging, and timing properties are comparable to standard glass microchannel plates, the background rates and lifetime characteristics are considerably improved. Sealed tube detectors based on the Planacon tube, and a 25 mm cross delay line readout tube with a GaN(Mg) opaque photocathode deposited on borosilicate microchannel plates have been fabricated. Considerable progress has also been made with 20 cm microchannel plates for a 20 cm format sealed tube sensor with strip-line readout that is being developed for Cherenkov light detection.

Siegmund, O. H. W.↗

Wide-Band, High-Quantum-Efficiency Photodetector

A design has been proposed for a photodetector that would exhibit a high quantum efficiency (as much as 90 percent) over a wide wavelength band, which would typically be centered at a wavelength of 1.55 m. This and similar photodetectors would afford a capability for detecting single photons - a capability that is needed for research in quantum optics as well as for the practical development of secure optical communication systems for distribution of quantum cryptographic keys. The proposed photodetector would be of the hot-electron, phonon-cooled, thin-film superconductor type. The superconducting film in this device would be a meandering strip of niobium nitride. In the proposed photodetector, the quantum efficiency would be increased through incorporation of optiA design has been proposed for a photodetector that would exhibit a high quantum efficiency (as much as 90 percent) over a wide wavelength band, which would typically be centered at a wavelength of 1.55 m. This and similar photodetectors would afford a capability for detecting single photons - a capability that is needed for research in quantum optics as well as for the practical development of secure optical communication systems for distribution of quantum cryptographic keys. The proposed photodetector would be of the hot-electron, phonon-cooled, thin-film superconductor type. The superconducting film in this device would be a meandering strip of niobium nitride. In the proposed photodetector, the quantum efficiency would be increased through incorporation of opti-

Jackson, Deborah↗

Improving performance of the MgZnO ultraviolet photodetectors by changing the interdigital electrode width

Highlights: • The different electrode width of the metal-semiconductor-metal photodetectors are fabricated by the radio frequency magnetron sputtering technique. • The responsivity and the dark current of the photodetectors will vary with the electrode width. • The main reason of the interesting phenomenon is the change of the density of the carriers. - Abstract: We grow the Mg{sub 0.24}Zn{sub 0.76}O thin film onto a quartz substrate by the radio frequency magnetron sputtering technique. Planar geometry metal-semiconductor-metal structured ultraviolet detectors were fabricated by conventional ultraviolet lithography and wet etching on the Mg{sub 0.24}Zn{sub 0.76}O thin films. To improve the performance of the device, three kinds of photodetectors with different electrode width were fabricated, after a series of tests on those device, it is amusing to find an interesting phenomenon, the Mg{sub 0.24}Zn{sub 0.76}O photodetectors with different electrode width have a great influence on the performance of the whole device. The Mg{sub 0.24}Zn{sub 0.76}O photodetectors that own larger electrode width had a higher responsivity and lower dark current than the photodetectors own littler electrode width. These interesting results are very meaningful for the photodetector industry.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Visible scintillation photodetector device incorporating chalcopyrite semiconductor crystals

A photodetector device, including: a scintillator material operable for receiving incident radiation and emitting photons in response; a photodetector material coupled to the scintillator material operable for receiving the photons emitted by the scintillator material and generating a current in response, wherein the photodetector material includes a chalcopyrite semiconductor crystal; and a circuit coupled to the photodetector material operable for characterizing the incident radiation based on the current generated by the photodetector material. Optionally, the scintillator material includes a gamma scintillator material and the incident radiation received includes gamma rays. Optionally, the photodetector material is further operable for receiving thermal neutrons and generating a current in response. The circuit is further operable for characterizing the thermal neutrons based on the current generated by the photodetector material.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Extreme Carrier Depletion and Superlinear Photoconductivity in Ultrathin Parallel-Aligned ZnO Nanowire Array Photodetectors Fabricated by Infiltration Synthesis

Ultrathin semiconductor nanowires enable high-performance chemical sensors and photodetectors, but their synthesis and device integration by standard complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS)-compatible processes remain persistent challenges. This work demonstrates fully CMOS-compatible synthesis and integration of parallel-aligned polycrystalline ZnO nanowire arrays into ultraviolet photodetectors via infiltration synthesis, material hybridization technique derived from atomic layer deposition. The nanowire photodetector features unique, high device performances originating from extreme charge carrier depletion, achieving photoconductive on–off ratios of >6 decades, blindness to visible light, and ultralow dark currents as low as 1 fA, the lowest reported for nanostructure-based photoconductive photodetectors. Surprisingly, the low dark current is invariant with increasing number of nanowires and the photodetector shows unusual superlinear photoconductivity, observed for the first time in nanowires, leading to increasing detector responsivity and other parameters for higher incident light powers. Temperature-dependent carrier concentration and mobility reveal the photoelectrochemical-thermionic emission process at grain boundaries, responsible for the observed unique photodetector performances and superlinear photoconductivity. Here, the results elucidate fundamental processes responsible for photogain in polycrystalline nanostructures, providing useful guidelines for developing nanostructure-based detectors and sensors. Lastly, the developed fully CMOS-compatible nanowire synthesis and device fabrication methods also have potentials for scalable integration of nanowire sensor devices and circuitries.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Large-scale synthesis of Bi2S3 nanorods and nanoflowers for flexible near-infrared laser detectors and visible light photodetectors

Highlights: • Bi{sub 2}S{sub 3} nanorods and nanoflowers flexible laser detectors have been fabricated successfully. • The photoelectric properties were studied upon 808 nm and 980 nm laser beam irradiation. • Bi{sub 2}S{sub 3} nanorods flexible photodetector exhibits higher LDR value than other Bi{sub 2}S{sub 3} based photodetectors. - Abstract: Rod-like and flower-like bismuth sulphide semiconductor nanomaterials were large-scale synthesized and applied for flexible near-infrared laser detectors and visible light photodetectors. The nanorod-based flexible laser detectors have high photoresponse characteristics to 808 nm and 980 nm laser light, and their switching ratio were calculated to be 9.2 and 23.6 times, respectively. The flexible laser detectors exhibit good linear current characteristics, photo-sensitivity dependence of light intensity. Especially, the flexible nanorod-based photodetector has high LDR (linear dynamic range) value of 19.60 dB. Furthermore, the Bi{sub 2}S{sub 3} nanorods based visible light photodetector exhibits higher LDR value than other Bi{sub 2}S{sub 3} based photodetectors.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗

Strain-engineered high-responsivity MoTe 2 photodetector for silicon photonic integrated circuits

In integrated photonics, specific wavelengths are preferred such as 1550 nm due to low-loss transmission and the availability of optical gain in this spectral region. For chip-based photodetectors, layered two-dimensional (2D) materials bear scientific and technologically relevant properties such as electrostatic tunability and strong light-matter interactions. However, no efficient photodetector in the telecommunication C-band has been realized with 2D transition metal dichalcogenide materials due to their large optical bandgap. Furthermore, we demonstrate a MoTe 2 -based photodetector featuring strong photoresponse (responsivity = 0.5 A/W -1 ) operating at 1550 nm in silicon photonics enabled by strain engineering the 2D material. Non-planarized waveguide structures show a locally-induced bandgap change of 0.2 eV inside MoTe 2 , resulting in large photo-response, in an otherwise photo-inactive medium when unstrained. Unlike Graphene-based photodetectors relying on a gapless band structure, this photodetector shows a ~100X improved dark current, enabling an efficient noise equivalent power of 90 pW/Hz -0.5 . Such strain-engineered integrated photodetector provides new opportunities for integrated optoelectronic systems.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

High-performance solar-blind ultraviolet photodetector based on mixed-phase ZnMgO thin film

High Mg content mixed-phase Zn{sub 0.38}Mg{sub 0.62}O was deposited on a-face sapphire by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy, based on which a metal-semiconductor-metal solar-blind ultraviolet (UV) photodetector was fabricated. The dark current is only 0.25 pA at 5 V, which is much lower than that of the reported mixed-phase ZnMgO photodetectors. More interestingly, different from the other mixed-phase ZnMgO photodetectors containing two photoresponse bands, this device shows only one response peak and its −3 dB cut-off wavelength is around 275 nm. At 10 V, the peak responsivity is as high as 1.664 A/W at 260 nm, corresponding to an internal gain of ∼8. The internal gain is mainly ascribed to the interface states at the grain boundaries acting as trapping centers of photogenerated holes. In view of the advantages of mixed-phase ZnMgO photodetectors over single-phase ZnMgO photodetectors, including easy fabrication, high responsivity, and low dark current, our findings are anticipated to pave a new way for the development of ZnMgO solar-blind UV photodetectors.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

TH-C-19A-10: Systematic Evaluation of Photodetectors Performances for Plastic Scintillation Dosimetry

Purpose: To assess and compare the performance of different photodetectors likely to be used in a plastic scintillation detector (PSD). Methods: The PSD consists of a 1 mm diameter, 10 mm long plastic scintillation fiber (BCF-60) which is optically coupled to a clear 10 m long optical fiber of the same diameter. A light-tight plastic sheath covers both fibers and the scintillator end is sealed. The clear fiber end is connected to one of the following six studied photodetectors: two polychromatic cameras (one with an optical lens and one with a fiber optic taper replacing the lens); a monochromatic camera with the same optical lens; a PIN photodiode; an avalanche photodiode (APD); and a photomultiplier tube (PMT). Each PSD is exposed to both low energy beams (120, 180, and 220 kVp) from an orthovoltage unit, and high energy beams (6 MV and 23 MV) from a linear accelerator. Various dose rates are explored to identify the photodetectors operating ranges and accuracy. Results: For all photodetectors, the relative uncertainty remains under 5 % for dose rates over 3 mGy/s. The taper camera collects four times more signal than the optical lens camera, although its standard deviation is higher since it could not be cooled. The PIN, APD and PMT have higher sensitivity, suitable for low dose rate and out-of-field dose monitoring. PMT's relative uncertainty remains under 1 % at the lowest dose rate achievable (50 μGy/s), suggesting optimal use for live dosimetry. Conclusion: A set of 6 photodetectors have been studied over a broad dose rate range at various energies. For dose rate above 3 mGy/s, the PIN diode is the most effective photodetector in term of performance/cost ratio. For lower dose rate, such as those seen in interventional radiology, PMTs are the optimal choice. FQRNT Doctoral Research Scholarship.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

A high performance UV–visible dual-band photodetector based on an inorganic Cs 2 SnI 6 perovskite/ZnO heterojunction structure

Inorganic metal halide (IMH) perovskites have recently emerged as highly promising optoelectronic materials due to their excellent material properties, including tunable direct bandgap, long carrier diffusion length, high carrier mobility and outstanding environmental stabilities. However, the performance of photodetectors fabricated from IMH perovskites so far is limited as compared to their counterparts based on organic–inorganic hybrid perovskites. In this work, we demonstrate a high performance ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) dual-band photodetector based on a Cs 2 SnI 6 /ZnO heterojunction structure. Therefore, by adjusting the polarity of the applied bias voltage, the photodetector can switch between two operation modes: (1) UV–Vis dual-band detection mode and (2) visible-blind UV detection mode. High detectivity in both the UV (1.39 × 10 12 Jones) and visible (5.88 × 10 11 Jones) regions is achieved. In addition, this photodetector demonstrated a fast response speed with a rise and fall time on the order of milliseconds and a large linear dynamic range of 119 dB. The excellent performance of this photodetector originates from efficient charge separation at the heterojunction interfaces, which will be discussed in detail in terms of the energy band diagrams and carrier dynamics of the device. Our study demonstrates the great application potential of inorganic vacancy-ordered perovskites in high-performance heterojunction photodetectors.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Photodetector Arrays for Multicolor Visible/Infrared Imaging

Monolithic focal-plane arrays of photodetectors capable of imaging the same scenes simultaneously in multiple wavelength bands in the visible and infrared spectral regions have been proposed. In prior visible/infrared imaging systems, it has been standard practice to use separate optical trains to form images in visible and infrared wavelength bands on separate visibleand infrared-photodetector arrays. Because the proposal would enable the detection of images in multiple wavelength bands on the same focal plane, the proposal would make it unnecessary to use multiple optical trains. Hence, multispectral imaging systems could be made more compact and the difficulties of aligning multiple optical trains would be eliminated. Each pixel in an array according to the proposal would contain stacks of several photodetectors. The proposal is a logical extension of prior concepts of arrays of stacked photodetectors for imaging in two or three wavelength bands. For example, such an array was described in Three-Color Focal-Plane Array of Infrared QWIPs (NPO-20683), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 24, No. 5 (May 2000), page 26a. In one proposed design, (see figure), each pixel would be divided into four subpixels, one being dedicated to a visible- and-near-infrared (V) band, one to a combination of the V band and a verylong- wavelength infrared (VLWIR) band, one to a combination of the V band and a long-wavelength infrared (LWIR) band, and one to a combination of the V band and a medium-wavelength infrared (MWIR) band. For this purpose, each subpixel would include a GaAs-based positive/intrinsic/negative (PIN) photodiode for detection in the V band stacked with three quantum-well infrared photodetectors (QWIPs), each optimized for one of the aforementioned infrared bands. The stacks of photodetectors in all the subpixels would be identical except for the electrical connections, which would be configured to activate the various wavelengthband combinations.

Gunapala, Sarath↗

High-Performance Near-IR Photodetector Using Low-Bandgap MA 0.5 FA 0.5 Pb 0.5 Sn 0.5 I 3 Perovskite

Photodetectors with ultrafast response are explored using inorganic/organic hybrid perovskites. High responsivity and fast optoelectronic response are achieved due to the exceptional semiconducting properties of perovskite materials. However, most of the perovskite-based photodetectors exploited to date are centered on Pb-based perovskites, which only afford spectral response across the visible spectrum. This study demonstrates a high-performance near-IR (NIR) photodetector using a stable low-bandgap Sn-containing perovskite, (CH 3 NH 3 ) 0.5 (NH 2 CHNH 2 ) 0.5 Pb 0.5 Sn 0.5 I 3 (MA 0.5 FA 0.5 Pb 0.5 Sn 0.5 I 3 ), which is processed with an antioxidant additive, ascorbic acid (AA). The addition of AA effectively strengthens the stability of Sn-containing perovskite against oxygen, thereby significantly inhibiting the leakage current. Consequently, the derived photodetector shows high responsivity with a detectivity of over 10 12 Jones ranging from 800 to 970 nm. Such low-cost, solution processable NIR photodetectors with high performance show promising potential for future optoelectronic applications.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Enhanced UV–Vis Rejection Ratio in Metal/BaTiO 3 /β–Ga 2 O 3 Solar–Blind Photodetectors

The fabrication and characterization of metal/BaTiO 3 /β-Ga 2 O 3 solar-blind photodetectors are reported. β-Ga 2 O 3 is a promising material for solar-blind photodetectors due to its large bandgap and the availability of low defect-density melt-grown substrates. In this work, structures are introduced that employ high-permittivity dielectric/semiconductor heterojunctions to enhance the performance of a Schottky photodetector. It is shown that integrating the high-k dielectric BaTiO 3 reduces the dark current by ≈10 4 , all but eliminates illumination induced Schottky barrier lowering, and increases the UV–vis rejection ratio by a factor greater than 9 × 10 3 compared to a Schottky photodetector. It is hypothesized that the high permittivity of the dielectric overcomes the influence of self-trapped holes in Ga 2 O 3 to reduce the peak electric field at the dielectric/metal interface, thereby eliminating the effects of Schottky barrier lowering on illuminated β-Ga 2 O 3 photodetectors. Additionally, it is hypothesized that the increase in the UV–vis rejection ratio is caused by the “dead layer” that forms at the BaTiO 3 /Pt interface.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗