Bulletin of the Polish Academy of Sciences: Technical Sciences (Mar 2022)

Review of photodetectors characterization methods

  • Zbigniew Bielecki,
  • Krzysztof Achtenberg,
  • Małgorzata Kopytko,
  • Janusz Mikołajczyk,
  • Jacek Wojtas,
  • Antoni Rogalski

DOI
https://doi.org/10.24425/bpasts.2022.140534
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 70, no. 2

Abstract

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The review includes results of analyses and research aimed at standardizing the concepts and measurement procedures associated with photodetector parameters. Photodetectors are key components that ensure the conversion of incoming optical radiation into an electrical signal in a wide variety of sophisticated optoelectronic systems and everyday devices, such as smartwatches and systems that measure the composition of the Martian atmosphere. Semiconductor detectors are presented, and they play a major role due to their excellent optical and electrical parameters as well as physical parameters, stability, and long mean time to failure. As their performance depends on the manufacturing technology and internal architecture, different types of photodetectors are described first. The following parts of the article concern metrological aspects related to their characterization. All the basic parameters have been defined, which are useful both for their users and their developers. This allows for the verification of photodetectors’ workmanship quality, the capabilities of a given technology, and, above all, suitability for a specific application and the performance of the final optoelectronic system. Experimentally validated meteorological models and equivalent diagrams, which are necessary for the correct analysis of parameter measurements, are also presented. The current state of knowledge presented in recognized scientific papers and the results of the authors’ works are described as well.

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