1-2 micron (Hg, Cd)Te photodetectors

The performance of mercury cadmium telluride detectors in the 1-2 micron spectral region has been predicted from basic material parameters. Photovoltaic devices should be characterized by specific responsivities of 1 A/W for a 1000 ohm load when transit time limited to less than 20 ns. Photoconductive detectors made from n-type material should have radiative lifetimes of 1 ms. The feasibility of high performance 1-2 micron (Hg, Cd)Te detectors has been demonstrated experimentally. Deep junction devices operating at room temperature without bias have been fabricated by impurity indiffusion. Detectivities at 1.75 microns approached 10
¹⁰
cm.Hz
^1/2
/W with open-circuit responsivities of approximately 500 V/W. In addition, 1.5 micron detectors have been fabricated from p-type, 25 Ω.cm material. With no bias at room temperature, these detectors showed D* λ>10
¹⁰
cm.Hz/12/W, open-circuit responsivities in excess of 10
³
V/W, and response times on the order of microseconds. These preliminary results indicate that detectors fabricated from the pseudobinary alloy of (Hg, Cd)Te are well suited for high speed, near infrared photodetection in which room temperature operation is required.