We report on the analysis of thermally-limited operation of quantum-dot infrared photodetectors (QDIPs). A device model is developed and used to calculate the QDIP detectivity as a function of the structural parameters, temperature, and applied voltage, as well as to determine the conditions for the detectivity maximum. The QDIP detectivity is compared with that of quantum-well infrared photodetectors (QWIPs). This work clarifies why the existing QDIPs are still inferior to QWIPs and shows that a significant improvement in the QDIP performance can be accomplished by the utilization of dense QD arrays with small QDs.

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