Terahertz detectors based on Pb1−xSnxTe:In films

• Published in: Optoelectronics, instrumentation, and data processing Vol. 49; no. 5; pp. 492 - 497
• Main Authors: Akimov, A. N., Ishchenko, D. V., Klimov, A. E., Neizvestny, I. G., Pashchin, N. S., Sherstyakova, V. N., Shumsky, V. N., Epov, V. S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer US 2013
• Subjects: Lasers; Nanoheterostructures for Photoelectric Converters and Photodetector Tubes; Optical Devices; Optics; Photonics; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; photoconductor prototype; THz radiation; free electron laser; localized states in the bandgap; metal-insulator transition
• ISSN: 8756-6990; 1934-7944
• DOI: 10.3103/S8756699013050105

Results of experimental studies of Pb
1−
x
Sn
x
Te:In films grown by molecular beam epitaxy with the tin concentration close to band inversion are presented. An optimal concentration of indium is determined, and films with
x
> 0.3 are obtained, where the so-called metal-insulator transition is observed. Photoconductor prototypes are fabricated, and the photocurrent induced by free electron laser radiation in the range of 140–205 µm is measured. A possibility of using photoconductors for recording the own radiation of a body heated to a temperature of 300 K in a passive mode, including systems of image registration in the terahertz spectral range, is estimated.