A high-performance CO2 laser heterodyne detector operating at 250 K |
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| Authors: | C T Elliott N T Gordon D J Wilson C L Jones C D Maxey N E Metcalfe |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Defence Evaluation and Research Agency , Malvern, Worcestershire, WR14 3PS, England;2. GEC Marconi Infra-Red Limited , Southampton, England |
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| Abstract: | Abstract The design, construction and assessment of a CO2 laser heterodyne receiver based on a Hg1-x Cd x Te heterostructure is described. The structure has been designed to minimize the leakage currents at high temperatures while maintaining a high quantum efficiency. Measurements show that over 4dB of shot noise can be obtained with the application of less than 1 mW of laser power. This result can be combined with the measured low-frequency quantum efficiency of 42% to give a noise equivalent power of 7.2 × 10?20 WHz?1. The device is mounted on a single-stage thermoelectric cooler and coupled to an amplifier. It is hoped that the availability of high-performance detectors which do not need to be cooled to cryogenic temperatures will greatly improve the attractiveness of laser heterodyne systems. |
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