HIGH-RELIABILITY PHOTOCONDUCTING SYSTEM CDS - CR2O3 USING CERAMIC TECHNOLOGY

The preparation of photoconducting chalcogenide layers using a ceramic technology combined with a vapor deposition technology is presented. These photoconducting, polycrystalline layers A(2)B(6) (CdS, CdTe) hav e a high reliability (more then 10000 hours mean time between failures ). The Cr2O3 used in this technology was obtained by quenching of alph a- Cr2O3 from 1100 K in a reactive atmosphere. The initial alpha-Cr2O3 which contained only few oxygen vacancies turned into a nonstoichiome tric Cr2O3-x, (x approximate to 0.5). The final product consists of a ceramic pellet from porous sintered Cr2O3 with a CdS photoconducting l ayer. This pellet includes the impurities gettered from CdS as chromit es. The photoconductivity, TSC and photoluminescence spectra are prese nted. By analysing the experimental spectra, the influence of the nons toichiometric alpha-Cr2O3 is discussed. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Limi ted.