A vertical cavity longwave infrared SiGe/Si photodetector using a buried silicide mirror

We describe the fabrication, modelling and performance of a resonant cavity detector using epitaxial p-type SiGe/Si quantum wells grown over a high reflectance tungsten silicide layer. The device operates in the 8-12 /spl mu/m band in normal incidence and has a black body responsivity comparable to current n-GaAs/AlGaAs detectors at /spl sim/1 V, making it suitable for integration in a monolithic Si-based focal plane array. Ways to improve the design are discussed.