THIN-FILM PHOTODETECTORS FOR THE VACUUM-ULTRAVIOLET SPECTRAL REGION

We report on thin-film photodetectors optimized for detecting the vacu um UV and rejection of the visible spectrum of electromagnetic radiati on. The devices are made of hydrogenated amorphous silicon and silicon carbide on a glass substrate. At room temperature the photodetectors exhibit quantum efficiencies of 52% at lambda = 58.4 nm, 1% at lambda = 400 nm, and 0.1% at lambda = 650 nm. The response time for UV pulses from an N-2 laser gives signals of 6-mu s full width at half-maximum and 500-ns rise time. (C) 1997 Optical Society of America.