Germanium blocked impurity band far infrared detectors

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GERMANIUM BLOCKED IMPURITY BAND FAR INFRARED DETECTORS

The infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum has been of interest to scientist since the eighteenth century when Sir William Herschel discovered the infrared as he measured temperatures in the sun's spectrum and found that there was energy beyond the red. In the late nineteenth century, Thomas Edison established himself as the first infrared astronomer to look beyond the solar system when he observed the star Arcturus in the infrared. Significant advances in infrared technology and physics, long since Edison's time, have resulted in many scientific developments, such as the Infrared Astronomy Satellite (IRAS) which was launched in 1983, semiconductor infrared detectors for materials characterization, military equipment such as night-vision goggles and infrared surveillance equipment. It is now planned that cooled semiconductor infrared detectors will play a major role in the ''Star Wars'' nuclear defense scheme proposed by the Reagan administration

A Direct Comparison of Ge and Si(Li) Detectors in the 2-20 keV Range

The spectral response of high purity Ge (HPGe) and lithium-drifted Si (Si(Li)) surface barrier detectors of similar geometry has been measured over a range of x-ray energies under identical experimental conditions. Detector characteristics such as spectral background, escape peak intensity, entrance window absorption, and energy resolution are presented and compared. Although these characteristic have been discussed in the literature previously, this paper represents an attempt to consolidate the information by making comparisons under equivalent experimental conditions for the two types of detectors. A primary goal of the study is a comparison of the two types of detectors for use in x-ray fluorescence applications

Si(Li) Detectors with Thin Dead Layers for Low Energy X-Ray Detection

Regions of incomplete charge collection, or dead layers'', are compared for Si(Li) detectors fabricated with Au and Pd entrance window electrodes. The dead layers were measured by characterizing the detector spectral response to x-ray energies above and below the Si K{alpha} absorption edge. It was found that Si(Li) detectors with Pd electrodes exhibit consistently thinner effective Si dead layers than those with Au electrodes. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the minimum thickness required for low resistivity Pd electrodes is thinner than that required for low resistivity Au electrodes, which further reduces the signal attenuation in Pd/Si(Li) detectors. A model, based on Pd compensation of oxygen vacancies in the SiO{sub 2} at the entrance window Si(Li) surface, is proposed to explain the observed differences in detector dead layer thickness. Electrode structures for optimum Si(Li) detector performance at low x-ray energies are discussed. 18 refs., 8 figs., 1 tab