Intersubband photoconductivity at 1.6 <i>µ</i>m using a strain-compensated AlN/GaN superlattice

We report on intersubband absorption, photovoltaic, and photoconductive detection of near-infrared radiation in regular AlN/GaN superlattice structures. Photoconductive detection was achieved up to temperatures of 120 K. Simulation of the transition energies using a self-consistent Schrödinger-Poisson equation solver for our specific well width is in good agreement with the measurements. For a well width of 17 Å, the transition energy between ground state and first excited state in the GaN well is around 6300 cm^–1 which corresponds to 1.6 <i>µ</i>m.