POTENTIAL APPLICATION OF THE AlGaAs/GaAs HETEROSTRUCTURE PHOTODIODES FOR LASER-PLASMA DIAGNOSTICS

L. Ryæ1, F. Riesz2

1 Institute of Plasma Physics and Laser Microfusion, P.O. Box 49, 00-908 Warsaw, Poland,
2 Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Research Institute for Technical Physics and Materials Science, P.O. Box 49, H-1525 Budapest, Hungary,


The AlGaAs/GaAs heterostructure PIN photodiodes, grown by molecular beam epitaxy, are evaluated for the measurement of laser pulses and X-ray diagnostics of laser-induced plasmas. Excitation by the 820 nm laser pulses yields rise time of the detector less than 200 ps. The device is sensitive to 1.06 mm pulses from the Nd:YAG laser. Also a-particle spectra are measured and interpreted. The detector is able to operate at zero bias. Theoretical response to X-rays is calculated.