Electrical properties of Hg1−x MnxTe-based photodiodes

Abstract

Electrical properties (at 80K) of p-n junctions fabricated by ion milling of p-type Hg0.91Mn0.09Te are analyzed. The forward current-voltage characteristics at low biases is shown to be governed by carrier recombination in the space charge region and at higher biases its voltage dependence is deformed due to the voltage drop across the high-resistance layer in the diode structure. Under reverse bias, carrier tunneling suppresses other transport mechanisms. At higher reverse biases, impact ionization by high-energy carriers is responsible for the additional increase in the diode current.