W. Z. Shen and A. G. U. PereraReturn to Dr. Perera's Homepage
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA 30303ABSTRACT
A photoconductivity generation mechanism in homojunction interfacial workfunction internal photoemission (HIWIP) far-infrared detectors has been studied. A simple model is proposed and shows that the photoconductive gain of internal photoemission detectors is less than but close to unity and independent of the number of the emitter layers, while the current responsivity is proportional to the number of emitter layers. The results are in good agreement with the p-GaAs HIWIP experiments. The response time of the p-GaAs HIWIP detectors was estimated to be 20ps from the bias-dependent responsivity measurements, which shows the suitability for high-speed heterodyne applications.