Generation-recombination noise in extrinsic photoconductive detectors

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Rochester. College of Engineering and Applied Science. Institute of Optics, 1984. This thesis was digitized by the Institute of Optics in 2014 and was determined to have lapsed into the public domain. If you are the author and have questions about the digitization of your work, please contact Kari Brick, Graduate Program Coordinator for the Institute of Optics, at kbrick@ur.rochester.edu. Other contact information for the Institute is available at http://www.optics.rochester.eduA complete theory of generation-recombination noise is developed for extrinsic photoconductive detectors. A statistical approach uses Master equation techniques to derive closed form equations relating the noise and response characteristics of extrinsic detectors. Specifically, this treatment provides equations for the mean and mean-square fluctuation in the number of carriers, the response time, mean carrier lifetime, responsivity, and the noise equivalent power. The theory accounts for both the thermal and photo-induced generation of carriers. Impurity compensation of the majority carrier is addressed in this theory and is shown to have a significant effect on the noise and the response characteristics of this class of detectors. A Ge:Ga far infrared detection system is designed, built, and tested. Responsivity measurements are made in the presence and absence of background photon flux. Dark current noise measurements are taken as a function of the detector temperature. The noise and response characteristics of the detector are compared to the theory developed in this thesis and are shown to be in good agreement with this theory