Abstract
THE photoelectromagnetic effect has been studied in germanium1, silicon2 and lead sulphide3 as a means of measuring life-time and velocity of surface recombination. In indium antimonide the effect can be applied not only for this purpose4, but it can also provide the basis for a useful photocell. The arrangement for this is illustrated in Fig. 1. The sensitive element consists of a rectangular slice (A) of pure single-crystal material of dimensions 2 mm. × 1 mm. and approximately 0.1 mm. thickness, with a pair of electrodes (B) connected to the top and bottom faces. The element is immersed in a magnetic field of about 10,000 gauss provided by the ring magnet (C). Radiation of suitable wave-length falling on the front face of the element generates hole-electron pairs near the surface ; these diffuse inwards, and in so doing become separated vertically by the magnetic field, giving rise to an e.m.f. between the electrodes. If the radiation is chopped by a rotating toothed disk, in the usual way, an interrupted output is obtained, which can be fed to a conventional a.c. amplifier through a matching transformer.
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Hilsum, C., Oliver, D. J., and Rickayzen, G., J. Electronics, No. 2, 134 (1955).
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HILSUM, C., ROSS, I. An Infra-red Photocell based on the Photoelectromagnetic Effect in Indium Antimonide. Nature 179, 146 (1957). https://doi.org/10.1038/179146a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/179146a0
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