Free carrier absorption in silicon

Free carrier absorption in heavily doped layers reduces the useful photon flux in the photoconductive region of extrinsic Si infrared detectors. A simple theory is developed which predicts the transmissivity of such layers as a function of their sheet resistance and the wavelength of the radiation. Experimental data over the 2.5-20 µm wavelength and 5-500 Ω/square sheet resistance range are given for both diffused and ion-implanted layers and also for polysilicon gases. The temperature dependence of both transmissivity and sheet resistance is investigated from 20 to 300 K.