Epitaxial PbSe Schottky-barrier diodes for infrared detection

Abstract

The photovoltaic properties and infrared response of epitaxial PbSe Schottky-barrier diodes are reported. The temperature dependence of the zero-bias resistance suggests that generation/recombination is the dominant transport mechanism. At 77 °K the devices are limited by the 290 °K background at f/0.6. With further reduction of the background they attain Johnson-noise-limited peak detectivities of 5×1011 cm Hz1/2 W−1. The diode quantum efficiencies are reflection loss limited and reach 70%.