Effects of electron correlation on the photocurrent in quantum dot infrared photodetectors

The effect of electron correlation on the photocurrent of self-assembled InAs/InGaAs quantum dot infrared photo-detector (QDIPs) is studied. It is found that Coulomb interaction and level mixing in the many-body open system lead to double peaks associated with the intra-band transitions involving two lowest levels of the quantum dot. Furthermore, the photocurrent is a nonlinear function of the steady-state carrier density and it displays a plateau due to Coulomb blockade.