Abstract

The photoconductive response of intrinsic detectors may be extended to longer wavelengths through the addition of selected impurities to the semiconductor which has been properly purified. Although impurities in many semiconductors, such as germanium, silicon, indium antimonide, and germanium-silicon alloys have been investigated, only impurity-activated germanium detectors are commercially available. Germanium–gold (Ge:Au) detectors have a response to about 9 μ and require cooling between 60°K and 80°K; germanium–mercury (Ge: Hg) detectors have a response to 14 μ and should be cooled to about 30°K; germanium–copper (Ge: Cu) detectors have a response to 30 μ and require cooling to about 15°K. Their detectivity, which depends on the amount of background radiation falling on the detector, is of the order of 10¹⁰ cm(cps)^½W⁻¹ at spectral peak for a 180° field of view and 300°K background radiation. Time constants are less than 1 μsec when the detectors are cooled properly.

© 1965 Optical Society of America

Generation–recombination noise in extrinsic photoconductive detectors

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