The zero bias resistance-area products and current-voltage (I-V) characteristics as a function of temperature and infrared background radiation have been measured for HgCdTe photodiode samples with cutoff wavelengths near 9 μm at 80 K. A model is presented to account for the background and temperature dependence of the data. It is found that the reverse I-V curve shapes and magnitudes may be estimated as a function of both background and temperature by superposition of the total current from optical generation, thermal diffusion, and depletion region generation-recombination centers. The influence of background radiation was found to create an exceptionally linear reverse I-V characteristic that can be easily distinguished from other current generation mechanisms, and can be modeled by application of existing theory to HgCdTe photodiodes.
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