Photodetector Spectral Response Estimation Using Black Body Radiation

Abstract

We propose a method for the estimation of the spectral response of a photodetector, using only the variation of the temperature of a black body source without the need of an expensive monochromator or a circular filter. The proposed method is suitable especially for infrared detectors in which the cut-off wavelength and the responsivity vs. wavelength is not exactly known. The method provides a rough estimation of the spectral response solving a Fredholm integral equation of the first kind. The precision of this technique depends on the temperatures at which the detector output is measured. Some examples are given for illustration.

Keywords

• infrared radiation
• photodetector
• black body