Germanium photodiode circuits suitable for measuring extremely high temperatures and extremely small temperature changes

THE FREQUENCY RESPONSE of germanium and silicon types of pn photodiodes, when measured by modulated radiation, has been found to be identical, with the response falling off between 10 and 20 kc, and gradually dropping to zero. The physical causes of this response characteristic are only partly understood. In most photodiodes, using reverse bias, at currents of 20-60 pa, flicker noise persists up to frequencies above 10 kc.