Enhanced corrugated QWIP performance using dielectric coverage

We report here the effect of dielectric/metal coverage on the performance o f the corrugated quantum well infrared photodetectors (C-QWIP) in two wavel ength regimes. We found that with proper nonabsorbing dielectrics, both the detector dark current and the spectral responsivity can be improved upon t he monitoring 45 degrees edge coupled QWIP. In the 8 mu m regime, the norma lized responsivity of a Si3N4 covered C-QWIP was found to be improved by 3. 3 times. In the 14 mu m regime, the improvement is a factor of 1.8 using Si 3N4, coverage and a factor of 2.5 using SiO2 coverage.