INFRARED-ABSORPTION ENHANCEMENT IN LIGHT-HOLE AND HEAVY-HOLE INVERTED GA1-XINXAS/AL1-YINYAS QUANTUM-WELLS

We have investigated infrared absorption properties at normal incidence in p-type Ga1-xInxAs/Al1-yInyAs strained quantum wells. They are designed such that the ground state for holes is a light-hole state, which results from the effects of biaxial tensile strain in the quantum wells. We find that in this light- and heavy-hole inverted structure the infrared absorption from intervalence subband transitions can be greatly enhanced up to 8500 cm-1, which is comparable to that in the intrinsic Hg1-xCdxTe detector. This novel structure's ability to detect infrared radiation at normal incidence makes it promising for infrared photodetection applications.