POLARIZATION CHARACTERISTICS OF SEMICONDUCTOR PHOTODIODES

The polarization characteristics of a pn-junction Si photodiode and a Au-GaAsP Schottky photodiode which were revealed when the detectors we re used obliquely to the incident radiation were investigated theoreti cally and experimentally in the spectral region from the vacuum ultrav iolet to the visible. The experimental results in both cases were well explained by an optical model in the ultraviolet to the visible spect ral range. It was found that the effect of beam divergence on the dete ctor response could be negligible in the visible and resulted in a sma ller response below about 90 nm for both the Si and the Au-GaAsP photo diode. The silicon photodiode showed complex spectral variation of pol arization properties between 100 nm and 400 nm.