Method for eliminating defects in a photodetector
AssigneeRCA Corporation
InventorsArthur H. Firester, Robert V. D'Aiello
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Abstract
The performance of a photodetector is reduced by the presence of an electrical defect such as a short or a shunt. The invention is a method of improving the performance of this photodetector by preferentially removing a portion of an exposed surface of a detector electrode at the defect site. The preferential etching of the exposed surface is obtained by immersing the photodetector in a chemical etching ambient which has an etching rate for the exposed surface of the electrode which increases with increasing temperature while applying a reverse-bias voltage to the electrodes. The reverse-bias voltage has sufficient magnitude to cause a local increase in temperature of the exposed surface at the defect site.
Claims10
A method for improving the performance of a photodetector having an electrical defect therein and comprising a pair of electrodes on a semiconductor body, said method comprising the step of
- immersing said photodetector in a chemical ambient having an etching rate for an exposed surface of at least one of said electrodes which increases with increasing temperature while applying a reverse-bias voltage of sufficient magnitude to said electrodes to cause a local increase in the temperature of said exposed surface at said defect for a sufficient period of time to remove a portion of said exposed electrode at said defect.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.