Study and characterization of porous germanium for radiometric measurements

Abstract

AbstractThe aim of this article is to study and realize a new detector based on a porous germanium (pGe) photodiode to be used as a standard for radiometric measurement in the wavelength region between 800 nm and 1700 nm. We present the development and characterization of a porous structure realized on a single‐crystal substrate of p‐type germanium (Ga doped) and of crystallographic orientation (100). The obtained structure allows, on the one hand, to trap the incident radiation, and on the other hand, to minimize the fluctuations of the front‐face reflection coefficient of the photodiode. The first studies thus made show that it is possible to optimize, respectively, the electrical current density and the electrochemical operation time necessary for obtaining exploitable porous structures. The obtained results show that for 50 mA/cm2 and 5 min as operational parameters, we obtain a textured aspect of the porous samples that present a pyramidal form. The reflectivity study of the front surface shows a constant value of around 38% in a spectral range between 800 nm and 1700 nm approximately. (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)