3 research outputs found
CSIP - a Novel Photon-Counting Detector Applicable for the SPICA Far-Infrared Instrument
We describe a novel GaAs/AlGaAs double-quantum-well device for the infrared
photon detection, called Charge-Sensitive Infrared Phototransistor (CSIP). The
principle of CSIP detector is the photo-excitation of an intersubband
transition in a QW as an charge integrating gate and the signal amplification
by another QW as a channel with very high gain, which provides us with
extremely high responsivity (10^4 -- 10^6 A/W). It has been demonstrated that
the CSIP designed for the mid-infrared wavelength (14.7 um) has an excellent
sensitivity; the noise equivalent power (NEP) of 7x10^-19 W/rHz with the
quantum efficiency of ~2%. Advantages of the CSIP against the other highly
sensitive detectors are, huge dynamic range of >10^6, low output impedance of
10^3 -- 10^4 Ohms, and relatively high operation temperature (>2K). We discuss
possible applications of the CSIP to FIR photon detection covering 35 -- 60 um
waveband, which is a gap uncovered with presently available photoconductors.Comment: To appear in Proc. Workshop "The Space Infrared Telescope for
Cosmology & Astrophysics: Revealing the Origins of Planets and Galaxies".
Eds. A.M. Heras, B. Swinyard, K. Isaak, and J.R. Goicoeche
Non-linear transient models and transient corrections methods for IR low-background photo-detectors
Abstract. Physical models are used to reproduce and correct transient effects of infrared (IR) photo-detectors in time series after incoming illumination changes. Such photo-detectors, working at low background for IR astronomy in space, cover the ranges 6-15 µm (Si:Ga), 40-110 µm (unstressed Ge:GA) and 120-210 µm (stressed Ge:Ga) and are working at low temperature. We discuss detectors models (direct models) and transients corrections (inversion methods). Some have been successfully applied to ISO data, others are in preparation for SIRT