Gallium Antimonide‐Based Photodiodes and Thermophotovoltaic Devices

This paper briefly presents some important aspects of the GaSb‐based material growth, as well as the performance of photodiodes and TPV devices for the 0.9–2.55 μm spectral range. A reproducible technique has been developed for the production of high‐speed and high‐efficiency GaSb/GaInAsSb/GaAlAsSb photodiodes. The detectivity of the photodiodes, estimated from the measured noise level and monochromatic current sensitivity, in the spectral peak reaches D*(λmax, 1000, 1)=(0.8–1.0)×1011 W−1×cm×Hz1/2 at room temperature. Recently, we have adapted the technology for creating GaInAsSb (0.52–0.53 eV band gap) TPV devices. Based on the our results we believe a 0.5 eV band gap GaSb‐based TPV cell with an open‐circuit voltage well over 300 mV at current 2–3 A is a realistic near‐term goal.