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Encyclopedia of Laser Physics and Technology

© Dr. Rüdiger Paschotta

Last update: 2009-06-04

Definition: devices used for the detection of light

Photodetectors are devices used for the detection of light – in most cases of optical powers. As the requirements for applications vary considerably, there are many types of photodetectors which may be appropriate in a particular case:

• Photodiodes are semiconductor devices with a p–n junction or p–i–n structure (i = intrinsic material) (→ p–i–n photodiodes), where light is absorbed in a depletion region and generates a photocurrent. Such devices can be very compact, fast, highly linear, and exhibit a high quantum efficiency (i.e., generate nearly one electron per incident photon) and a high dynamic range, provided that they are operated in combination with suitable electronics. A particularly sensitive type is that of avalanche photodiodes, which are sometimes used even for photon counting.
• Metal–semiconductor–metal (MSM) photodetectors contain two Schottky contacts instead of a p–n junction. They are potentially faster than photodiodes, with bandwidths up to hundreds of gigahertz.
• Phototransistors are similar to photodiodes, but exploit internal amplification of the photocurrent. They are less frequently used than photodiodes.
• Photoresistors are also based on certain semiconductors, e.g. cadmium sulfide (CdS). They are cheaper than photodiodes, but they are fairly slow, are not very sensitive, and exhibit a strongly nonlinear response.
• Photomultipliers are based on vacuum tubes. They can exhibit the combination of an extremely high sensitivity (even for photon counting) with a high speed. However, they are expensive, bulky, and need a high operating voltage.
• Pyroelectric photodetectors exploit a pyroelectric voltage pulse generated in a nonlinear crystal (e.g. LiTaO₃) when heated by absorption of a light pulse on an absorbing coating on the crystal. They are often used for measurement of microjoule pulse energies from Q-switched lasers.
• Thermal detectors (powermeters) measure a temperature rise caused by the absorption of light. Such detectors can be very robust and be used for the measurement of very high laser powers, but exhibit a low sensitivity, moderate linearity, and relatively small dynamic range.

Important Properties of Photodetectors

Depending on the application, a photodetector has to fulfill various requirements:

• It must be sensitive in some given spectral region (range of optical wavelengths). In some cases, the responsivity should be constant or at least well defined within some wavelength range. It can also be important to have zero response in some other wavelength range; an example are solar-blind detectors, being sensitive only to short-wavelength ultraviolet light but not to sun light.
• The detector must be suitable for some range of optical powers. The maximum detected power can be limited e.g. by damage issues or by a nonlinear response, whereas the minimum power is normally determined by noise. The magnitude of the dynamic range (typically specified as the ratio of maximum and minimum detectable power, e.g. in decibels) is often most important. Some detectors (e.g. photodiodes) can exhibit high linearity over a dynamic range of more than 70 dB.
• In some cases, not only a high responsivity, but also a high quantum efficiency is important, as otherwise additional quantum noise is introduced. This applies e.g. to the detection of squeezed states of light, and also affects the photon detection probability of single-photon detectors.
• The active area of a detector can be important e.g. when working with strongly divergent beams from laser diodes. For light sources with very high and/or non-constant beam divergence, it is hardly possible to get all the light onto the active area. An integrating sphere may then be used (with appropriate calibration) for measuring the total power.
• The detection bandwidth may begin at 0 Hz or some finite frequency, and ends at some maximum frequency which may be limited by internal processes (e.g. the speed of electric carriers in a semiconductor material) or by the involved electronics (e.g. introducing some RC time constants). Some resonant detectors operate only in a narrow frequency range, and can be suitable e.g. for lock-in detection.
• Some detectors (such as pyroelectric detectors) are suitable only for detecting pulses, not for continuous-wave light.
• For detecting pulses (possibly on a few-photon level), the timing precision may be of interest. Some detectors have a certain “dead time” after the detection of a pulse, where they are not sensitive.
• Different types of detectors require more or less complex electronics. Penalties in terms of size and cost may result e.g. from the requirement of applying a high voltage or detecting extremely small voltages.
• Particularly some mid-infrared detectors need to be cooled to fairly low temperatures. This makes their use under various circumstances impractical.
• For some applications, one-dimensional or two-dimensional photodetector arrays are needed. For detector arrays, some different aspects come into play, such as cross-pixel interference and read-out techniques.
• Finally, the size, robustness and cost are essential for many applications.

Different detector types, as listed above, differ very much in many of these properties. In typical application scenarios, some requirements totally rule out the use of certain detector types, and quickly lead to a fairly limited choice. Note also that there are some typical trade-offs. For example, it is frequently difficult to combine a high detection bandwidth with a high sensitivity.

See also: photodiodes, p–i–n photodiodes, avalanche photodiodes, metal–semiconductor–metal photodetectors, velocity-matched photodetectors, photomultipliers, powermeters, photon counting, noise specifications

Category: photonic devices

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