Quantum-well infrared photodetector

A quantum well infrared photodetector (English Quantum Well Infrared Photodetector, QWIP ) is a semiconductor detector for detecting infrared radiation. Alternating thin layers of III-V semiconductors with different band gaps form quantum wells to absorb the infrared radiation.

State of the art (2010) are QWIP arrays with more than 640 × 640 pixels. They consist of alternating AlGaAs and GaAs layers (typically about 50), and dissolve in the wavelength range of around 10 microns, the temperature with an error of less than 15 mK at a quantum yield of more than 10%.

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