IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics

Full quantum mechanical scattering model of the dark current in quantum well intersubband photodetectors (QWIPs): The absence of sequential tunnelling, and in-plane wavefunction localisation Nkaepe E.I. Etteh, and Paul Harrison, Senior Member, IEEE Abstract — A quantum mechanical approach is taken to derive a model of the dark current in quantum well intersubband photodetectors. This is based on a combination of the thermionic, and field induced emission components of the dark current. It is argued that the presence of interface roughness in real devices has a significant impact on the contribution of sequential tunnelling to the dark current.