Quantum efficiency and spectral response of compositionally graded HgCdTe P-n heterojunction photodiodes

Abstract

Results are presented of a study of the quantum efficiency of HgCdTe heterojunction photodiodes. All heterojunctions considered in the study consist of a wide-band-gap P-type layer and a narrow-band-gap n-type layer, and are illuminated from the backside. The n-type layer is compositionally graded and therefore contains a built-in electric field. Due to the difference in band gaps photons are absorbed in the active n-type layer only and are collected by both drift and diffusion mechanisms. The one-dimensional continuity equation is first solved in the linearly graded n-type region under illumination conditions, and then the dependence of the quantum efficiency on the resulting built-in electric field is presented. Two different modes of illumination are compared: In the first mode, associated with n-on-P HgCdTe diodes, the light reaches the transparent P layer first; in the second mode, associated with P-on-n diodes, the light reaches the transparent P side after it passes through the opaque n-type layer. The superiority of the first mode is demonstrated: It consistently renders higher quantum efficiencies, and is also less sensitive to several properties of the diode such as the width of the absorbing layer and the quality of the backside interface.