Lead telluride-based photodetectors: a new approach

Abstract

The authors present a new class of infrared photodetectors based on the led-tin tellurides doped with group-III impurities. The persistent photoconductivity effect appearing in these materials provides an internal signal integration resulting in a considerable increase in signal-to-noise ratio. The techniques of photomemory quenching are discussed. In some quenching regimes the effect of giant quantum efficiency stimulation has been observed. The possibility of generation of the photoinduced spatially non-equilibrium states provides physical evidence for the construction of an integrated 'continuous' focal-plane matrix based on Pb_1-xSn_xTe(In).