Semiconductor near-ultraviolet photoelectronics

After a brief review of classification, application and sources of near-ultraviolet (UV) radiation the methods for fabricating UV photodetectors and characteristics of the photoconductive cells, p-n junction structure and Schottky barrier photodiodes are discussed. Characteristics of some light filters used in photodetectors and measuring devices are also reported. Now Si p-n structures are commonly used but Schottky diodes based on wide-gap (GaAsP, GaP, GaN, AlGaN, SiC) semiconductors are very attractive. They are insensitive to the infrared radiation and if necessary simple glass filters can be used for correcting the spectrum in such way that it covers just the near-UV region.