A study of the bolometric capabilities of p‐type GaSb and InSb:Ge for phonon pulse experiments

Abstract

The potential of p-type GaSb and InSb:Ge for use as low-temperature hopping bolometric detectors of particles and photons has been investigated. In the range 1.4 K ≤ T ≤ 4.2 K, GaSb conductivity followed ln ρ(T) ∝ exp (T0/T)1/4 law with sensitivity, α(T) = (1/R)dR/dT, varying from 0.6 K−1 to 0.2 K−1. As a detector at 1.4 K, phonon pulses generated in a silicon absorber bonded to GaSb were easily distinguished with a response time of 1 μs. Conductivity in InSb detectors exhibited thermally activated-hopping conduction, ρ(T) ∝ exp (ε3/kBT), with an activation energy of ε3 ∼ 0.12 meV. In the range 1.4 K ≤ T < 4.2 K, α(T) of InSb varied from 0.7 K−1 to 0.2 K−1 with an abrupt increase above 4.2 K rising to a maximum value of 8.1 K−1 at 4.5K. For the range 5 K ≤ T ≤ 10 K, α(T) had an exponential decay. (© 2003 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)