Abstract

To measure the very short photoconductive time constants of p-type gold-doped germanium, two alternative methods were applied and compared. The first is indirect, using the relationship between the magnitude of generation-recombination noise and carrier lifetimes. The second method is direct, employing a high-speed light-pulsing technique. If no other noise sources are important, the results of the indirect method approach those of the direct method as a lower limit. A combination of such time-constant measurements was performed on a series of crystals in which impurity densities and carrier concentrations had been evaluated by Hall coefficient and conductivity measurements. From these data quantum yields of carrier generation, and cross sections for photon capture and carrier recombination were evaluated. The photon capture cross section of the 0.15 ev gold acceptor level at 5 μ is 1.3×10⁻¹⁶ cm², averaging 0.9×10⁻¹⁶ cm² for 2–9 μ. The hole capture cross section by the Au⁻ ion in germanium was found to be 2.3×10⁻¹⁴ cm².

© 1961 Optical Society of America

Low-Temperature Germanium Bolometer

Frank J. Low
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 51(11) 1300-1304 (1961)

Cooled Photoconductive Infrared Detectors*

Werner Beyen, Peter Bratt, Howard Davis, Leo Johnson, Henry Levinstein, and Alfred MacRae
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 49(7) 686-692 (1959)

Image Converter for Thermal Radiation*

M. Garbuny, T. P. Vogl, and J. R. Hansen
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 51(3) 261-273 (1961)

Optical Cross Section of Resonance Lines Emitted by Flames under Conditions of Partial Thermal Ionization*†

Fritz W. Hofmann and Hedwig Kohn
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 51(5) 512-521 (1961)

Absorptance of Gold in the Far Infrared*

Louis Harris and Peter Fowler
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 51(2) 164-167 (1961)