Dark current mechanism in long-wavelength HgCdTe infrared detectors on alternative substrates

The dark current characteristics of long-wavelength HgCdTe were analyzed for three types of devices. By I-V measurement under different temperatures, the dominant dark currents of each device were clarified at different temperatures. It is demonstrated that the dark current of B (+) -implanted n (+)-on-p planar junction on silicon substrate is comparable with that on bulk cadmium zinc telluride (CdZnTe) substrate above 80 K. However, the trap-assisted tunneling current becomes dominant below 80 K due to the high density of dislocations. Compared with n (+) -on-p junctions, the p (+) -on-n double-layer heterojunction inhibits the diffusion current effectively, which is good matched with the calculation result with the parameters, derived from I-V curve fitting. This p (+) -on-n diode has a R(0)A value of 38 Omega . cm(2) at 80 K, for the cut-off wavelength of 9.6 mu m, while that of the n (+) -on-p diode on bulk CdZnTe is 2. 5 Omega . cm(2). Below 60 K, the dislocations make the R(0)A value of the p (+) -on-n diode an order of magnitude lower than that of the n (+) -on-p diode on CdZnTe.