Si-based GeSn photodetectors towards mid-infrared imaging applications

This paper reports a comprehensive study of Si-based GeSn mid-infrared photodetectors, which includes: 1) the demonstration of a set of photoconductors with Sn compositions ranging from 10.5% to 22.3%, showing the cut-off wavelength has been extended to 3.65 um. The measured maximum D* of 1.1x10^10 cmHz^(1/2)W(-1) is comparable to that of commercial extended-InGaAs detectors; 2) the development of surface passivation technique on photodiode based on in-depth analysis of dark current mechanism, effectively reducing the dark current. Moreover, mid-infrared images were obtained using GeSn photodetectors, showing the comparable image quality with that acquired by using commercial PbSe detectors.