Photoconductivity spectra of unstressed and stressed Ge:Ga detectors were measured. The experiments were performed with a polarizing step scan Fourier transform spectrometer using the synchrotron facility BESSY, which was operated in a dedicated mode with a low momentum compaction factor. By this way powerful and coherent synchrotron radiation below 50 cm^-1 was generated. We observed a significant response of unstressed and stressed Ge:Ga detectors below 50 cm^-1 and 25 cm^-1, respectively. This response can be attributed to transitions between bound excited states or from bound excited states to the valence band. The results indicate that in germanium detectors a fraction of the recombining holes is captured into bound excited states.

Date Published: 27 June 2006
PDF: 8 pages
Proc. SPIE 6275, Millimeter and Submillimeter Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy III, 627505 (27 June 2006); doi: 10.1117/12.671580

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 6275:
Millimeter and Submillimeter Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy III
Jonas Zmuidzinas; Wayne S. Holland; Stafford Withington; William D. Duncan, Editor(s)