A photovoltaic detector technology based on plasma-induced p-to-n type conversion of long wavelength infrared HgCdTe

[Truncated abstract] HgCdTe is the leading semiconductor material for the fabrication of high performance infrared photon detectors, in particular, for detection of radiation beyond the near infrared. State-of-the-art infrared detection and imaging systems are currently based around high density focal plane arrays consisting of HgCdTe photodiodes as detector elements. Despite the high performance of HgCdTe infrared detectors, and the many benefits they can offer to industry and society, their utilisation remains limited due to the high cost of production. The chemical composition and narrow bandgap of the HgCdTe material used for infrared detection means that the material is inherently very susceptible to defect formation caused by the processing procedures required for device fabrication. Consequently, fabrication of HgCdTe photodiode arrays have traditionally been characterised by low yields and high costs for arrays that meet required operability specifications. In this thesis a new photodiode fabrication technology with the potential to improve device yields over traditional fabrication technologies is presented. This new fabrication technology is distinguished from others by the use of plasma-induced p-to-n type conversion of HgCdTe for junction formation. This allows great simplification of the fabrication process and avoids high temperature processing during and after junction formation, and keeps the junction protected from the atmosphere at all stages of fabrication. The development of the photodiode fabrication technology using plasma-induced junction formation has involved characterising the electrical transport properties of the type-converted layers, fabrication and characterisation of photodiodes, and photodiode dark current modelling