Photoconductive Detectors
S W McKnight and
C A DiMarzio
Types of Photoconductivity
• “Intrinsic photoconductors”
– Absorption across primary band-gap, Eg,
creates electron and hole photocarriers
• “Extrinsic photoconductors”
– Absorption from (or to) impurity site in gap
creates photocarriers in conduction or valence
band
Intrinsic and Extrinsic
E Photoconductors
Ef1
1
Eg
2 Ef2
Intrinsic Extrinsic
Photoconductor Photoconductor
1. Donor level to conduction band
hνphonon
Eg
hνphoton
Direct Gap Semiconductors
E
hνphoton Eg k
Optical Constants of Silicon
8
7
Optical Constants (n, k)
n
4 k
k*1000
3
0
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200
Wavelength (nm)
GaAs Optical Constants
6
n
n, k
3 k
100*k
0
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200
Wavelength (nm)
Optical Electric Field and Power
A x (B x C) =
B(A·C) – C(A·B)
→ R = 0.35
0.9
0.8
In(z)=Io e- z
Optical Power
0.7
0.6
0.5
Si
0.4
0.3
0.2 GaAs
0.1
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Z (microns)
Carrier Generation/Recombination
length=l
Area=A
Hole trapping at
recombination centers:
a. hole is trapped
b. electron trapped,
completing recombination
(c)
c. hole detraps to valence
band
Photoconductivity with Hole
Trapping
(Steady-state)
length=l
Area=A
Photoconductive Gain
→
Effect of Carrier Lifetime on
Detector Frequency Response
Photoconductor Bias Circuit
Photoconductive Voltage
Photoconductor Responsivity
Responsivity Factors
• Photocarrier lifetime
– Tradeoff with response frequency
• Quantum efficiency (anti-reflection
coating)
Detector
• Carrier mobility area=A d w
G-R noise:
Ep = photon irradiance=Φp / Ad
G = photoconductive gain
Background-Limited
Photoconductive Detection
Johnson-Noise-Limited
Photoconductive Detection
Noise Sources for IR Detectors