Photosensitive polycrystalline films of PbTe doped with Cl and an exce
ss of Te have been studied. The films were grown by vacuum deposition
in a modified quasiclosed volume from compensated starting material. T
he composition of the starting material was chosen in a range in which
the carrier density depends only negligibly on the concentrations of
the dopant and the excess tellurium. Uniform polycrystalline films wit
h a carrier density of about 3X10(17) cm(-3), a dark resistance of abo
ut 10(6) Omega/square, and a photosensitivity in the range 1-6 mu m, w
ithout a high-temperature annealing in air, were produced as a result.
The optimum annealing temperature does not exceed 250-270 degrees C.
At this annealing temperature, barriers for the current grow to a maxi
mum height similar or equal to 50 meV. Such films can be used as the s
ensitive elements of solid-state matrix IR detectors. Photoresistive m
atrix IR detectors on a Si-SiO2 substrate with 32 X 32 elements and an
element size of 50 X 50 mu m(2) have been fabricated. (C) 1994 Americ
an Institute of Physics.