Light-sensitive metal-semi-insulator-n+GaAs diodes

The infrared detection property of a new type of Schottky-barrier GaAs epitaxial diode is described. When the diode is forward biased at a few volts it exhibits extreme sensitivity to infrared radiation of 0.895-µm wavelength. The detectivity is typically of the order of 1 to 5 × 10
¹²
cm(Hz)
^1/2
/W and the response time is approximately 0.1 ms at room temperature. A physical model of this new device is proposed.