Modeling and Simulation of Photoconductive Detectors Based on Hg1-xCdx Te for Free Space Optical Communication

In this paper we report a theoretical model of an Hg_1-xCd_xTe based photoconductive detector for characterizing the device in respect of voltage responsivity, quantum efficiency, detectivity and noise equivalent power. The results obtained on the basis of the model reveal that in the absence of surface recombination the device exhibits a peak quantum efficiency of 90%, voltage responsivity of the order of 10³ VW^-1, detectivity of the order of 10⁸ mHz^1/2W^-1, a 3 dB bandwidth of 117.86 MHz and noise voltage of 5.4times10^-6 VHz^-1/2.