Photo Ionization of Excited Atoms in Gas-Filled Photodiodes: Improved Detectivity with Microsecond-Order Risetime |
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| Authors: | Kopeika N S Eytan G |
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| Institution: | Department of Electrical Engineering Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Beer-Sheva, Israel; |
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| Abstract: | Photoionization of excited atoms and resonant absorption effects, which can decrease gas breakdown thresholds by high-power lasers at decreasing wavelengths, also improve low intensity detection sensitivities of gas-filled photodiodes when such devices are biased with dc fields close to gas breakdown. Spectral results indicate very promising potential sensitivity for detecting ultra-violet raidation. D* even in the visible is comparible to that of silicon photodiodes. The "relatively" large dc bias fields employed here improve speed of response significantly. Over moderate (10 -7 - 10-8W) received signal powers response is non-linear with ? varying inversely with wavelength. |
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