A narrow-band transmission filter is demonstrated near normal incidence that operates through relaxation of supported-mode selection rules and is explained in the context of group theory. We calculated the transverse magnetic and transverse electric dispersion relations of a dielectric grating in the subwavelength and near-wavelength region using finite element modal analysis and determine the modes' corresponding irreducible representations. Coupling to select transverse magnetic modes at normal incidence is optimized to yield broadband high reflectance that acts as the background for the transmission filter. While some modes couple at normal incidence, others are shown to remain inaccessible due to symmetry mismatch. Away from normal incidence, the reduced symmetry relaxes the selection rules, enabling weak coupling between the incident field and these symmetry-protected modes. This weak coupling produces narrow transmission bands within the opaque background. Furthermore, by choosing the plane of incidence to include or exclude the grating periodicity, we show that orthogonal mode sets can independently be selected to couple to the incident light, yielding separate transmission bands. This spectral filtering is experimentally demonstrated with a suspended silicon grating in the infrared spectrum ($7–14\mu \mathrm{m}$), which agrees well with simulated transmittance spectra and modal analysis.

The physical properties of detectors based on intraband optical absorption in quantum dots is described and examined in the interest of providing a competitive alternative infrared (IR) detector technology. These quantum dot detectors are an extension of quantum well infrared photodetectors and are expected to have a large performance advantage. A model is developed for quantum dot infrared photodetectors based on fundamental performance limitations enabling a direct comparison between IR materials technologies. A comparison is made among HgCdTe, quantum well, and quantum dot IR detectors, where quantum dots are expected to have the potential to outperform quantum wells by several orders of magnitude and compete with HgCdTe. In this analysis, quantum dots are expected to possess the fundamental ability to achieve the highest IR detector performance if quantum dot arrays with high size uniformity and optimal bandstructure may be achieved.

We report far-infrared photoconductivity in self-organized InAs/GaAs quantum dots grown by molecular beam epitaxy. Through use of a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer, a photoconductivity signal peaked at 17 μm is observed from a $\mathrm{n–i–n}$ detector structure with doped InAs quantum dots in the intrinsic region. Comparison of photoluminescence and band-to-band photocurrent absorption spectra suggests the far-infrared response is due to intersubband transitions in the quantum dots.

We report the room-temperature operating characteristics of InGaAs/GaAs self-organised quantum dot lasers grown by molecular beam epitaxy. The emission wavelength is 1.028 µm and J_th = 650 A/cm² for a 90 µm × 1 mm broad-area laser. Steady-state and time-resolved photoluminescence measurements confirm that lasing occurs through the e₁-hh₂ higher-order transition, and the spontaneous recombination time for this transition is ≃ 200 ps.

A unipolar, barrier-integrated HgCdTe nBn photodetector with all n-type doping and a type-I band lineup is experimentally demonstrated. Planar mid-wave infrared (MWIR) nBn devices exhibit current-voltage (I-V) characteristics that are consistent with band inversion in reverse bias, indicating a barrier-influenced behavior. Dark current saturation is observed beyond a reverse bias of approximately −0.8 V. Bias-dependent photoresponse is observed in the mid-wave infrared with a cut-off wavelength around 5.7 μm. Numerical modeling based on experimental results predicts an internal peak quantum efficiency of approximately 66%.