IMAGE TRANSFORMATION IN INTEGRATED QUANTUM-WELL INFRARED PHOTODETECTOR LIGHT-EMITTING DIODE

We present an analysis of physical effects responsible for infrared im age transformation in integrated quantum well infrared photodetector-l ight emitting diode (QWIP-LED), For a large-area device, the spatial s mearing of the transformed image is determined by the lateral photocur rent spreading in the QWIP and the lateral diffusion of carriers injec ted into the LED. For devices with low QWIP photocurrent gain, the spa tial resolution is Limited by the carrier diffusion lengths in the QWI P and in the LED active region, which are much shorter than radiation wavelength, and hence, the transformed image is practically undistorte d. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.