Room temperature unpassivated InAs p-i-n photodetectors grown by molecular beam epitaxy

An unpassivated InAs p-i-n photodetector with excellent performance at room temperature was demonstrated. The zero-bias resistance area products of the diode with 720-nm thick i-layer are 8.1 /spl Omega/-cm/sup 2/ at room temperature and as high as 1.3 M /spl Omega/-cm/sup 2/ at 77 K. At 77 K, the diode exhibits a breakdown voltage exceeding 13 V. When tested under a 500 K blackbody source, the measured detectivity limited by Johnson noise is 1.2/spl times/10/sup 10/ cm-Hz/sup 1/2 //W at room temperature and 8.1/spl times/10/sup 11/ cm-Hz/sup 1/2 //W at 77 K. To our knowledge, this is the best data for a room temperature infrared detector.