Characteristics of a tunneling quantum-dot infrared photodetector operating at room temperature

We report high-temperature (240-300 K) operation of a tunneling quantum-dot infrared photodetector. The device displays two-color characteristics with photoresponse peaks at,6 m m and 17 m m. The extremely low dark current density of 1.55 A/ cm(2) at 300 K for 1 V bias is made possible by the tunnel filter. For the 17 m m absorption, the measured peak responsivity is 0.16 A/ W (300 K) for a bias of 2 V and the specific detectivity D* is 1.5 x 10(7) cm Hz(1/2)/ W (280 K) for a bias of 1 V. Excellent performance characteristics are also measured for the 6 m m photoresponse. (c) 2005 American Institute of Physics.