 Photoconductor

A photoconductor is a detector whose illuminated material changes electrical conductivity, allowing an external circuit to measure the change under applied bias. It uses photoconductivity: absorbed photons can produce mobile electrons and electron holes, changing the conductive path between contacts. A simple photoresistor reads this as a light-dependent resistance. Shimadzu’s primary description explains band-gap excitation and the resistance decrease in a PbS detector.^[ref]

An original uniform-bar model makes the signal mechanism quantitative. Let the contact separation be $\ell$, the conducting area $A$, electron and hole number densities $n,p$, and their mobilities ${\mu }_n,{\mu }_p$. In the low-field ohmic model,Here $e$ is the positive elementary charge and $V_b$ the actual detector electric potential difference. If illumination changes carrier densities while mobilities stay fixed,The assumptions exclude contact barriers, strongly nonuniform illumination and a bias changed by the readout; those effects require an expanded model.

For $\ell =1\mathrm{mm}$, $A=10^{-8}{\mathrm{m}}^2$, ${\mu }_n=0.10{\mathrm{m}}^2/(\mathrm{V}\mathrm{s})$, ${\mu }_p=0.05{\mathrm{m}}^2/(\mathrm{V}\mathrm{s})$ and $\Delta n=\Delta p=10^{18}{\mathrm{m}}^{-3}$, the conductivity increment is about $0.0240S/m$. At fixed $V_b=5\mathrm{V}$, the predicted current increment is about $1.20\mu \mathrm{A}$. These stipulated parameters illustrate the conversion of extra carriers into a signal, rather than specifications of a named detector.

Readout loading can change that result. In a divider powered at $V_s$, with detector resistance $R_d$ in series with load $R_L$, the output across the load isFor $V_s=5\mathrm{V}$ and $R_L=10\mathrm{k\Omega }$, changing $R_d$ from $100$ to $10\mathrm{k\Omega }$ raises the output from about $0.455$ to $2.50\mathrm{V}$. The detector’s own bias falls from about $4.55$ to $2.50\mathrm{V}$. A light-dependent conductance and a measured divider voltage therefore need not have the same linearity. Record the actual bias and illuminated area when measuring spectral responsivity.

Photoconductor response time also depends on carrier storage and loss. A simple spatially uniform excess-carrier model is $d\Delta n/dt=g(t)-\Delta n/\tau$. After a step to constant generation $g_0$, initially zero excess density becomes $g_0\tau (1-e^{-t/\tau })$. Small sinusoidal modulation has response proportional to $(1+i2\pi f\tau {)}^{-1}$. With stipulated $\tau =100\mu \mathrm{s}$, the single-pole cutoff is about $1.59\mathrm{kHz}$. Real traps, contacts and electronic filters need not yield one such time constant.

A proposed characterization biases the detector through a known readout, measures dark and illuminated currents at controlled wavelength and temperature, then chops or modulates the light and measures amplitude and phase versus modulation frequency. Repeat at several powers and biases to separate detector behavior from circuit loading. Temperature control matters: the manufacturer notes that PbS spectral sensitivity, response speed and dark resistance all change with temperature.^[ref]

The name photoconductive mode for a reverse-biased photodiode describes an operating choice of a junction detector; it does not make every such device the bulk-resistance detector modeled above. Likewise, a detector’s signal increase is not by itself a claim of unlimited useful gain: background response, dark current, noise, saturation and response time remain distinct characterization questions.