Extrinsic photodetectors are very sensitive to impacts by cosmic rays and charged particles from the Earth's trapped radiation belts. The residual effects of these impacts can, therefore, seriously affect the accuracy of astrophysical observations from spaceborne telescopes. Experimental and theoretical studies of the radiation effects in far-infrared detectors in low- temperature, low-background environments have been made. It is shown that these effects are associated with the generation of electron-hole pairs in the bulk of the detectors during the irradiation, and with the capture of the minority carriers by the compensating impurities. The results of the experiments, physical mechanisms of the observed effects and a new method for restoration of the pre-irradiation performance of the stressed Ge:Ga detector are discussed.

Date Published: 6 June 1995
PDF: 11 pages
Proc. SPIE 2475, Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy, (6 June 1995); doi: 10.1117/12.211245

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 2475:
Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy
Albert M. Fowler, Editor(s)