Uncooled resonant infrared detector based on aluminum nitride piezoelectric film through charge generations and lattice absorptions

• Main Authors: Tan, Chuan Seng, Kropelnicki, P., Zhu, Y., Randles, A. B., Gu, Y. A., Leong, K. C., Ang, Wan Chia
• Other Authors: School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Electrical and electronic engineering::Electronic apparatus and materials
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/101698; http://hdl.handle.net/10220/19754
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This Letter demonstrates an aluminum nitride (AlN) based uncooled resonant infrared (IR) detector utilizing the photo-sensitive and piezoelectric properties of polycrystalline AlN. The AlN Lamb wave mode resonator is found responsive to IR illuminations by showing a decrease in the S 21 magnitude instead of a resonant frequency shift. A −0.08 dB shift of S 21 magnitude was observed for an IR incident power of 647 nW, which translates to a responsivity of 124 kdB/W. Photoresponse is proposed for the IR sensing mechanism through additional charge carriers generation rather than thermal effects.