Recent advances in Sb-based materials for uncooled infrared photodetectors

In this paper, we review recent work on Sb-based materials for IR detector applications. The materials investigated in this work are InSb, AlInSb, and InAsSb grown by solid source molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The photodiodes investigated are InSb p-i-n structures and InAs_1-xSb_x homojunction and heterojunction device structures grown on (100) and (111)B semi-insulating GaAs and Si substrates. The InAsSb was grown to result in a cutoff wavelength of ∼ 8 μm which is useful for proximity fuze applications. Device performance is comparable to industry standard technologies such as HgCdTe and thermal detectors. The material parameters for device structures were investigated through theoretical calculations based on fundamental mechanisms.