QD Infrared Photodetectors with Low SWaP-C (size, weight, power consumption, and cost)

Photodetectors operating in the atmospheric transmission window of 8-12 μm (long wavelength infrared) are of great importance for civilian and military applications. These detectors do not require external source of illumination for day/night imaging, have high tolerance to airborne obscurants (such as fog, smoke, and dust), and are particularly effective in sensing human bodies.

Current technology based on HgCdTe suffer from high cost of fabrication (>$50,000) and require cryogenic cooling system to achieve high detectivity which significantly increases the detector’s size, weight, and power consumption. These two factors have been persistent problems limiting their broad-scale applicability. 

Our thrust in this project is to develop new infrared sensing QDs that will offer significantly reduced fabrication cost (<$10) and to implement novel device structures for high sensitivity/high temperature infrared photo detection.

Dong-Kyun Ko
Assistant Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
dong.k.ko@njit.edu