Abstract
Fast response is an important property of infrared detectors for many applications. Currently, high-temperature long-wavelength infrared HgCdTe heterostructure photodiodes exhibit subnanosecond time constants while operating under reverse bias. However, nonequilibrium devices exhibit excessive low-frequency 1/f noise that extends up to MHz range, representing a severe obstacle to their widespread application. Present efforts are focused on zero-bias operation of photodiodes. Unfortunately, the time constant of unbiased photodiodes is still at the level of several nanoseconds. We present herein a theoretical investigation of device design for improved response time and detectivity of long-wavelength infrared HgCdTe photodiodes operating at 230 K in zero-bias mode. The calculation results show that highly doped p-type HgCdTe is the absorber material of choice for fast photodiodes due to its high electron diffusion coefficient. The detectivity of such a device can also be optimized by using absorber doping of N A = 1 × 1017 cm−3. Reduction of the thickness is yet another approach to improve the device response. Time constant below 1 ns is achieved for an unbiased photodiode with absorber thickness below 4 μm. A tradeoff between the contradictory requirements of achieving high detectivity and fast response time is expected in an optically immersed photodiode with very small active area.
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Acknowledgements
We acknowledge support from The National Centre for Research and Development (Poland) through Grant No. TANGO1/2665576/NCBR/2015.
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Kopytko, M., Kębłowski, A., Madejczyk, P. et al. Optimization of a HOT LWIR HgCdTe Photodiode for Fast Response and High Detectivity in Zero-Bias Operation Mode. J. Electron. Mater. 46, 6045–6055 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-017-5562-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-017-5562-1