Electrical properties of Hg1-xMnxTe-based photodiodes

Electrical properties (at 80 K) of p-n junctions fabricated by ion milling of p-type Hg0.91Mn0.09Te are analyzed. The forward current-voltage characte ristics at low biases is shown to be governed by carrier recombination in t he space charge region and at higher biases its voltage dependence is defor med due to the voltage drop across the high-resistance layer in the diode s tructure. Under reverse bias, carrier tunneling suppresses other transport mechanisms. At higher reverse biases, impact ionization by high-energy carr iers is responsible for the additional increase in the diode current. (C) 1 999 American Institute of Physics. [S1063-7826(99)00812-1].