Modelling of illuminated current–voltage characteristics to evaluate leakage currents in long wavelength infrared mercury cadmium telluride photovoltaic detectors
- Institute of Defence Scientists and Technologists, CFEES Complex, Brig. S. K. Majumdar Marg, Delhi 110054 (India)
- National Laboratory for Infrared Physics, Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200083 (China)
The current–voltage characteristics of long wavelength mercury cadmium telluride infrared detectors have been studied using a recently suggested method for modelling of illuminated photovoltaic detectors. Diodes fabricated on in-house grown arsenic and vacancy doped epitaxial layers were evaluated for their leakage currents. The thermal diffusion, generation–recombination (g-r), and ohmic currents were found as principal components of diode current besides a component of photocurrent due to illumination. In addition, both types of diodes exhibited an excess current component whose growth with the applied bias voltage did not match the expected growth of trap-assisted-tunnelling current. Instead, it was found to be the best described by an exponential function of the type, I{sub excess} = I{sub r0} + K{sub 1} exp (K{sub 2} V), where I{sub r0}, K{sub 1}, and K{sub 2} are fitting parameters and V is the applied bias voltage. A study of the temperature dependence of the diode current components and the excess current provided the useful clues about the source of origin of excess current. It was found that the excess current in diodes fabricated on arsenic doped epitaxial layers has its origin in the source of ohmic shunt currents. Whereas, the source of excess current in diodes fabricated on vacancy doped epitaxial layers appeared to be the avalanche multiplication of photocurrent. The difference in the behaviour of two types of diodes has been attributed to the difference in the quality of epitaxial layers.
- OSTI ID:
- 22402638
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 116, Issue 18; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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