ABSTRACT
In 1973, Shepherd and Yang of Rome Air Development Center proposed the concept of silicide Schottky-barrier detector FPAs as much more reproducible alternative to HgCdTe FPAs for infrared thermal imaging.1 For the first time it became possible to have much more sophisticated readout schemes - both detection and readout could be implemented in one common silicon chip. Since then, the development of the Schottky-barrier technology progressed con tinuously and currently offer the largest IR image sensor formats. Such attri butes of the Schottky-barrier IR image sensor as: monolithic construction with standard LSI processing, uniformity in responsivity and signal to noise (the performance of an infrared system ultimately depends on the ability to com pensate the nonuniformity of an FPA using external electronics and a variety of temperature references), and absence of discernible 1 //noise; make Schottkybarrier devices a formidable contender to the main-stream infrared systems and applications.2-7
11.1. Internal photoemission process
The original electron photoemission model from metals into vacuum was described by Fowler8 in the 1930s. In the 1960s Fowler’s photoyield model was modified based on studies of internal photoemission of hot electrons from metal films into a semiconductor.9,10 Cohen et al.n modified the Fowler emission theory to account for emission in semiconductors.
