Patent ID: 9613999
Date: 2017-04-04
CPC Classifications: H01L,Y02E,Y02P

Claim:
1. A photo-detector, comprising: a photon absorbing layer comprising a semiconductor material having a first energy band gap; a barrier layer comprising a second semiconductor material having a second energy band gap; a passivation structure comprising at least one layer located on said barrier layer and having a third energy band gap; one or more metal contacts defining pixels of said photo-detector are electrically coupled to said barrier layer at exposed regions of the barrier layer, at which said passivation structure is absent; and wherein said passivation structure comprises a material having a high density of surface states thereby forcing pinning of an equilibrium Fermi level of said passivation structure to be within said third energy band gap and away from conduction and valence bands of the barrier layer, thereby reducing surface leakage and preventing electrical conduction between the one or more metal contacts defining the pixels of said photo-detector.