Improved performance of monolithically integrated mid infrared

sensor using single frequency operation

Daniela Ristanic1,a, Benedikt Schwarz1, Peter Reininger1,
Tobias Zederbauer1, Hermann Detz1, Aaron Maxwell Andrews1, Werner Schrenk1,
and Gottfried Strasser1
1

Institute for Solid State Electronics, Vienna University of Technology, 1040 Vienna, Austria

Abstract
Advanced method to improve the sensitivity and selectivity of monolithically integrated mid
infrared sensor using distributed feedback laser as a radiation source has been proposed in this
paper. The sensor is based on quantum cascade laser/detector system built up in the same
material and in the same fabrication approach and a surface plasmon polariton (SPP)
waveguide with a twofold function: it provides a coupling of the light between emitter and
detector, as well as strong interaction of light with environment. The quantum cascade lasers
used in this work emit single mode between 1520 cm-1 and 1650 cm-1 (what corresponds to
the absorption peak of water) with threshold current density of 3 kA/cm2, and a collected
output power of 200mW in the pulsed mode at room temperature. A peak signal of xxxx at the
detector is measured, what corresponds to responsivity of xxxx. In parallel, the work on the
pulse-to-pulse fluctuation control by elimination of thermal and electrical tuning is performed.

Electronic mail: daniela.ristanic@tuwien.ac.at

Mid-infrared absorption spectroscopy is well established method for the identification of

gaseous and liquids mixtures due to the fact that fundamental vibrational absorption bands of
the most of chemical substances are sited exactly in this spectral region, between 225 m.
Standard mid-infrared spectrometer is a bulky instrument consisting of broadband thermal
emitter and broadband detector, external optics and Fourier Transform infrared spectrometer
(FTIR). It is developed to work in laboratory conditions, and the spectral resolution of the
tabletop device scales with its size (for example Brucker FT-IR Vertecs versus IFS series). In
future, demands for further miniaturized, but in the same time portable and cost-effective
spectrometer will be even more stringent. For this purpose it would be necessary to emit and
detect the light with specific wavelength corresponding to absorption peak of the target
substance on the same chip, and in parallel, to provide the matter-light interaction between
emitter and detector. Quantum Cascade Lasers (QCLs) and Quantum Cascade Detectors
(QCDs) are well established devices for emitting and detecting in mid infrared range.
Nowadays QCLs cover the emission range from 2.63 m [1] to 250 m [2], with high output
power of multiwatts in pulsed [3] and more than 5 W in cw regime [4] at the room
temperature. A number of various applications for QCLs are already proposed [5, 6]. QCLs
can provide high cw output power with hop-free single mode emission and continuous
frequency tuning. In contrary to other mid infrared light sources (lead salt laser), they emit at
room temperature without cooling, have a small footprint and are cost-effective and longlasting. All these properties make QCLs an ideal candidate for spectroscopic application. On
the other side, QCDs are reliable and stable zero bias devices that offer room temperature
operation, high detection speed in nanosecond range [7] and superior noise behavior [8] in
comparison to other mid-infrared detectors (MCT detectors). Therefore, QCLDs suit perfect
for hand-held and mobile applications. It was shown that the QCL material can be used as a
photodetector too, but not at the same frequencies [9]. Recently, we have shown that it is
possible to manufacture coherent light source and detector operating at same frequencies in
2

the very same material and same fabrication procedure [10]. Dielectric Loaded surface
plasmon polariton waveguides (SPPW) introduced in [10] enable high efficient radiation
coupling between laser and detector, and in the same time it serves as a light-matter
interaction area. This development makes a huge step towards advanced solutions in on-chip
mid-infrared absorption spectroscopy.
The material used for the fabrication of laser/detector structure is based on bound to
continuum design of 37 cascades of In0.52Al0.48As/In0.53Ga0.47As lattice matched to n-doped InP
substrate grown by molecular beam epitaxy. The detailed description of the material is given
elsewhere [10]. Device fabrication started with the definition of the first order DFB grating
via electron beam lithography. According to the maximum of the electroluminescence
spectrum, the grating period was chosen to be 0.98 m (corresponds to emission of 1570 cm1) with a grating duty-cycle of 50 percent. First, 200 nm of SiN x was deposited on the sample
and serves as a grating hardmask. The grating was written in PMMA resist and transferred in
the SiN hardmask by reactive ion etching (RIE) in CHF 3 and 02 plasma. Afterwards, 500 nm
deep grating was etched into the upper cladding layer using SiCl 4 and Ar at 250C by means
of RIE. The 10 m wide and 2.5 mm long laser devices, and 15 m wide and 200 um long
detector devices with gap between them of 50 m were etched 6 m deep through the active
zone to the substrate by RIE after the deposition of a silicon nitride (SiN x) hard mask by
plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). 500 nm of SiN x is deposited for
electrical isolation leaving the electrical contact area and the ridge facets towards the
waveguide uncovered. Then, layers of titanium and gold, 10 and 60 nm thick respectively,
were evaporated to form the SPP waveguides. The distance between the SPP waveguides and
the laser/detector facet was less than 1 um, what provides efficient light coupling. In order to
minimize electric crosstalk via a shared series resistance, adjacent contacts in the trenches
beside the ridges were used instead of a standard back side substrate contact [11]. The top and
bottom contacts were applied by sputter deposition of a Ti/Au (10/250 nm) layer. The back
3

facets of laser and detectors devices were covered first with SiN x and then with a gold in order
to serve as a high reflection coating. In this way, the amount of light participating in detection
will be increased. The fabrication was finalized by deposition and pattering of 200 nm SiN x
used as a dielectric loaded SPP waveguide. The completed device is shown on Fig.1.

For characterization, the sample was temperature controlled by a Peltier cooler.

Device characterization was performed in pulsed operation (100 ns/5 kHz) at room
temperature (293 K). Emission spectra were taken by means of a Fourier-transform infrared
(FTIR) spectrometer with a resolution of 0.2 cm-1. Lock in detection is used to extract the
signal out of the noisy environment.
Intensity fluctuation leads to the measurement error. This is very important for the
cases where the absorption is above 10 %, because the Beer-Lambert low becomes highly
non-linear. In order to define the background noise (including thermal and electrical signal
fluctuation), controlling detector placed behind one of the laser devices with open facet is
used (the back facets of the rest of laser devices are covered by high reflection coating). It
would be also possible to compare the signal with and without target species, but this
approach is not straightforward, because of the cooling effects when the target species comes
in the contact with QCLD chip.
As the limit of detection (LOD) increases with the interaction length according to
Beer-Lambert law, the device with gap of 100 m and 200 m will be tested.
The authors acknowledge the support by the Austrian projects NEXT-LITE (Austrian
Science Fund (FWF): F4909-N23) and the Austrian Nanoinitiative project PLATON.

Open questions:
Is the figure with band structure necessary?

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Fig.1.