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A Novel Wavelength Tunable Silicon Detector for Infrared Detection

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 February 2011

A. G. U. Perera ,
R. E. Sherriff ,
M. H. Francombe  and
R. P. Devaty
A. G. U. Perera
Affiliation:
Also at Microtronics Associates Inc., 4516 Henry St., Pittsburgh, PA 15213
R. E. Sherriff
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260.
M. H. Francombe
Affiliation:
Also at Microtronics Associates Inc., 4516 Henry St., Pittsburgh, PA 15213
R. P. Devaty
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260.
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Abstract

A cryogenic extrinsic silicon detector which can detect IR photons of very low energy, i.e., down to about 5.5 meV ( 220 μm) is presented. The mechanism involves photoexcitation of carriers over low energy interfacial work function barriers at p-i or n-i interfaces in a process analogous to the classic photoelectric effect. Estimates for the responsivity and the detectivity for unoptimized commercial samples containing both p-i and n-i interfaces and a sample containing only a single p-i interface are provided by comparison with a silicon composite bolometer. The range of long wavelength thresholds (λt) observed suggests that this approach can be used to tailor detectors for different IR wavelength regions by changing the dopant impurity and the impurity concentration at levels near the metal-insulator transition. Single interface results confirm the possibility of detector optimization using multilayered structures. This should lead to a unique family of uniform monolithic IR focal plane structures with tailorable and tunable response characteristics within virtually all the IR spectral range of interest.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 261: Symposium D – Photo-Induced Space Charge Effects in Semiconductors: Electro-Optics, Photoconductivity and the Photorefractive Effect , 1992 , 119
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1992

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References

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