High selectively electromagnetic radiation detecting devices

Abstract

Abstract A high selectivity solid-state radiation detector having a Schottky barrier-type junction is fabricated by depositing a thin silver film of prescribed thickness atop a semiconductor crystal to form a sharp silver-to-semiconductor interface. The film allows a narrow band of the electromagnetic radiation incident thereon to pass therethrough into the semiconductor. Such radiation band is at an energy which is greater than the energy gap of the semiconductor and is thereby strongly absorbed, producing electron-hole pairs within the space-charge region of the barrier and giving rise to a photoelectromotive force or photoconductivity that peaks at an energy of radiation greater than the energy gap. If the radiation transmitted by the silver film is of energy less than the band gap of the semiconductor it is only weakly absorbed in the semiconductor, and therefore produces negligible response. By varying the film thickness, the selectivity and peak sensitivity may be further controlled.

Inventors

• 👤 Robert N Hall Richard Baertsch

Bibliographic Details