IR photodetectors operating under background illumination

The spectral dependence of the photoconductivity of silicon with multiply charged manganese nanoclusters is studied at different background currents. The spectral ranges where the IR quenching of the photoconductivity takes place and a shift in the photon energy at which the quenching efficiency as a function of the background current reaches a maximum are determined. The results allow us to design low-level IR photodetectors intended for the interval hν = 0.4–0.8 eV in the presence of fairly high background currents.